Holding Sand
by Mademoisella
Summary: Pain assaults me the moment I stir out of unconsciousness. My body aches as I shift position on the hard, cold floor, all the while wondering where I am, how I got here. But then I hear footsteps, and I turn in the direction of them to see whose they are. A familiar man gradually appears in the dimly lit room. "You?" I mutter in alarm. He gives me a sickening laugh in response.
1. Painful Inquisition

Hey there, everyone! Haven't heard from me in a while, eh? :P

I am sincerely sorry about the lack of stories from me since the epilogue of_ Love Unexpected_. Aside from _A Christmas Diamond_ and my revisions of _Love Unexpected_, I really haven't given you guys anything to read. School had put me on writing hiatus and stripped me of all of the inspiration and time to write.

But now that summer's here, I'd like to try to start a new story for you all! The love story in this one is based on a recent experience in my life that rallied enough emotions within in me for me to want to put into words. Also, I'll be killing two birds with one stone with this story because it also doubles as the **rewrite of _Absol_**! I know. About time, right? xD

A new chapter will be posted every week like _Love Unexpected_, so hopefully you'll all stick with me throughout this story? I promise I'll work hard to actually finish this story so you guys won't be left hanging this time haha.

As always, happy reading! I'd like to say that my writing has matured and improved during my long absence, so please enjoy. :)

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing that is affiliated with Pokémon.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

* * *

In all my years of traveling, I have only flown on a plane twice.

The first time was the year I turned nine. That year, my parents decided to take a vacation to Mossdeep City, an enormous island located on the eastern edge of the Hoenn region. We lived in Petalburg City, which is on the opposite end of the region from Mossdeep, thus leaving us with no choice but to fly. At that time, I was still a young child who was always eager to try something new. I had never flown before, so I was curious as to how my first flight on a plane would be. Unfortunately, it was not as pleasant as I had anticipated. My stomach revolted throughout the duration of the flight, and I got sick at least four times. The vacation in Mossdeep did not compensate for the dreadful flight there. Or the one back home.

The second time was the weekend my baby brother, Matt, was born. I was twenty years old the year that my mom became pregnant with my parents' third child. At first, my younger brother, Max, and I were slightly apprehensive when we found out that our forty-year-old mother was pregnant. Though my mother was a healthy woman, we still worried about the risks that came with pregnancy at her age. But our concerns were quickly dismissed when the doctor assured our family that my mother was in suitable condition to bear a child. That was when we allowed our excitement to fully take over as we awaited the arrival of the new addition to our family.

After finding out that the baby was going to be a boy, my dad chose to name him Matthew, a name that contained the beginning "Ma" in both Max and my names, Maxwell and Maybelle. A couple months later, I received the news that Matthew had been born, and immediately rushed back to Petalburg from Lilycove City, where I had been competing in another Grand Festival. The plane ride was as agonizing as I had expected it to be (the memory of my first time on a plane was fresh in my mind) but I can truthfully say that getting to meet and hold my baby brother was well worth the torture. However, I can't say that I will be voluntarily opting for a plane when there are other available means of transportation any time soon.

This current flight is the only exception that I plan on making, but I blame myself entirely for it. If I hadn't lost my ferry ticket yesterday, I wouldn't be suffering. The ticket was for the last ferry from Lilycove City, where I had just participated in a contest a few days ago, to Slateport City, where I had to board a train to get to Rustboro City for another contest. Of course, I had considered other methods of transportation to get me to Rustboro. But after realizing that none would get me to my destination in time for the contest, I grudgingly bought a last-minute ticket for the plane that would take me straight to the Rustboro Airport. The only positive that I have been bearing in mind to preserve my sanity is the fact that I will be given two days to spend with my family before the contest.

Thankfully, the pilot announces that the flight is about to end, which means that I only have a couple more minutes before ultimate relief for my stomach. I took pills prior to boarding the plane to combat motion sickness, but they have done little to quell the rebellion that has been raging on in my belly. The claustrophobia that has been plaguing me throughout the flight certainly hasn't been helping my condition either. I was assigned the window seat in this row, which left me with little movement space for hours. But I tell myself that the pain is almost over. I survived through five hours, I can endure another five minutes. I take a deep breath as I close my eyes, and clench my hands as the plane makes its steady descent from the sky.

The airplane bounces when its wheels land on the airport runway. I suppress a groan as my stomach protests against the plane's velocity down the asphalt, a speed that is far too unsettling for my comfort.

"Not one for plane landings, huh?" the middle-aged man beside me asks with an amused smile.

"Not at all," I answer, trying to offer him a smile of my own as I shake my head. "Actually, I'm not fond of anything involving a plane."

We share a laugh at this.

Once the plane finally stops, my stomach instantly settles. I swing my purse over my shoulder as I get up from my seat and ease myself out into the aisle, where I retrieve my carry-on bag from the overhead compartment. Then, I follow the line of passengers in front of me on the steady journey to get off the plane. Two pretty flight attendants stand at the exit to thank us for choosing Lilycove Airlines and to wish us all a wonderful stay in Rustboro City. One of them recognizes me and gives me a particularly friendly smile, even addressing me as "Miss Maple." I give her a warm smile in return before thanking both her and her coworker for the great service during the flight before I step out onto the jet bridge.

The amount of peace that fills me when I emerge into the airport terminal is so gratifying that I almost welcome the chaos that is bound to ensue in a few moments. I head over to the checkpoint after saying goodbye to the man who had sat beside me during the trip, and stand in line for the next available check-in counter. As I wait, I spare a glance over to the baggage claim that is just beyond here. A hoard of paparazzi waits by one of the massive conveyer belts as I had feared. I sigh to myself and reach into my bag to grab my sunglasses in preparation for the impending assault.

Sure enough, I am immediately hounded by the paparazzi the minute I arrive at the conveyor belt that will bring me my luggage. The camera flashes would blind me if not for the protection that my sunglasses provide. People pause to witness the scene that the photographers are causing, and I try not to frown. Paparazzi have never been on my list of favorite things. They started pestering me after I became a Top Coordinator by winning my first Grand Festival when I was sixteen. I have always tried to be courteous to them, and I think that is why they keep getting worse with their behavior. At least this current bunch has the decency to maintain a respectable distance from me.

"May!" they all chorus.

"Hello," I greet with the best smile I can muster.

"How was your flight?" one of the reporters asks.

My hands grow clammy at this question. A simple inquiry is always the beginning of an interrogation, and I have a very good idea of what these reporters want to know. The painful memories that I have been trying to repress for the past year will undoubtedly get resurrected when their questioning begins. I struggle to ignore the throbbing in my chest.

"It was good, thank you," I lie, wishing that my suitcase would hurry up and appear.

More cameras go off, but no other questions are asked for the time being. However, taking my time is not an option. I claim my suitcase the second it arrives, and then try to inconspicuously hurry to the exit doors of the airport. I nearly reach them before I hear the first of the dreaded questions.

How naive of me to think that I would have been able to escape them.

"May! Drew has seemingly disappeared from the coordinating scene in the past year! Would this have anything to do with your breakup?" one of the reporter inquires.

"You would have to ask him that," I respond, feigning apathy.

"Have you had any sort of contact with Mr. Hayden since you two broke up?" another asks.

"No, I have not," I answer, ignoring the pang in my chest.

"Neither of you ever disclosed any information about the split. Why did you two break up? Who was the one that initiated the split?" a third catechizes.

I do not answer any of the questions, but my mind replays all of the memories. My heart clenches in tune with each strand of recollection.

"Is there any chance for reconciliation in the future?" a fourth pipes.

I do not answer this either. I do not know the answer.

"Can we expect to see Drew at the upcoming contest?" a fifth finishes.

I put off answering this question because at last, I make it out of the airport. My dad's car is parked directly across from my exact position. Three security guards immediately rush up to escort me to it and to fend off the reporters (whose respect of distance seems to have waned) as I place my luggage inside the trunk. I thank all three of them when I am finished. They simply nod and back off as I make my way over to the passenger seat.

But before I slip inside the car, I turn to the paparazzi one last time.

"Any more questions that you have regarding Drew should be saved for him. He should know the answers best," I say. "Excuse me."

With that, I close the door and allow my dad to drive the both of us away.

* * *

**Author's Note: **And thus concludes the first chapter of the rewrite of _Absol_! What are your thoughts? Please leave me a review if it's not too much to ask. Thank you for reading. :)


	2. Passing and Disregard

Thank you all for the wonderful reception that I received for the first chapter of this story! As promised, here's the second chapter. Please enjoy! Happy reading. :)

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing that is affiliated with Pokémon.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

* * *

The Petalburg Woods is nothing but a green blur as my dad drives past it along the highway. The color green is said to have a relaxing ability, so I have been looking out the car window at the forest to alleviate the aching inside of me. Unfortunately, my efforts have failed to reach their desired effect because the color only reminds me of a certain someone. Twenty minutes have passed since we left behind the reporters, and my lips are still fixed into a frown from their questions about him.

It has been over a year since Drew and I broke up. Although neither of us has divulged any details about the split, it is ridiculous that the paparazzi are still pining for the story after all this time. Perhaps I ought to tell them what they want to know most in order to get them off my back. But I don't want to verbalize anything about the relationship that I regret so much. I don't want to remember it. I don't want to remember Drew.

I am overwhelmed by a mixture of resentment and hurt every time he comes to mind. After our relationship ended, he abruptly broke off all forms of contact with me before steadily withdrawing himself from the public eye. He has kept an extremely low profile since then, even seemingly retiring from coordinating. The paparazzo at the airport was not exaggerating when he said that Drew seems to have "disappeared from the coordinating scene in the past year" because he truly has. No one has seen him at a contest in months. But this fact hasn't stopped my mind from echoing the same question from another one of the reporters at the airport: will Drew be at the Rustboro City contest?

Anticipation and hope build inside of me regardless of my attempts to throttle them. Despite my animosity towards him, a part of me wishes that Drew will be at the contest in two days. We haven't seen one another in over a year. The part of me wants to see him. It wants to know what he will do when he sees me. Will he approach me? Will he speak to me? Will he even acknowledge me?

The longing that I have for the answers to these questions is almost as strong as my longing to see him. I sigh and look away from the car window as I wish that I didn't have to wait so long to find them out.

Dusk is now settling in as my dad nears the entrance to Petalburg City. The woods are well behind us, and the sun has disappeared behind the trees. At the rate that my dad is driving, we will be making it home just in time for dinner.

"Do you have any idea what Mom will be making for dinner tonight?" I ask him.

The corner of his eyes crinkle as he smiles, but his eyes don't leave the road.

"I would imagine that she has prepared your favorite dishes to welcome you home," he answers. "You've been away for three months."

Happiness instantly fills me at the prospect of tasting my mom's cooking again. I even temporarily forget about Drew.

"Great! I can't wait to eat," I say excitedly.

"Just to eat? Aren't you excited about seeing your mother and brothers again?" my dad asks with a chuckle.

"Well, of course I'm excited to see them. Is Max going to be home for dinner tonight then?"

"Yes, he will be."

"How has he been doing at the gym?" I inquire.

Pride radiates from my father's smile as he tells me, "Quite well, actually. He really keeps challengers on their toes. And with him at the gym now, I have all the time in the world to spend with your mother and Matt."

I am very happy to hear this all from my dad. Max took over for him as the gym leader of the Petalburg Gym the year I broke up with Drew and my mom was pregnant with Matt. He had just turned eighteen around that time, and our father was worried about whether or not Max would be able to handle the responsibility; he hadn't planned on allowing Max to be gym leader until he turned twenty-one.

But ultimately, Max proved himself to be a worthy gym leader. To this day, he has made numerous headlines and established a name for himself with his success. Our entire family couldn't be more proud of him.

"That is so great, Dad," I express. "I'm going to be so happy when I see him, Mom, and Matt again."

"Ah, there will be someone else that you'll be happy to see. You have a special guest," my dad tells me.

This immediately peaks my interest. I cock an eyebrow at him as I inquire who it is.

"You'll see when we get home," he responds with a smile.

And I do. I find out who my "special guest" is the moment my dad pulls into our driveway. He turns out to be my childhood best friend, Brendan, the son of the famous Professor Birch of Littleroot Town.

He stands beside my little brother on the front porch. In the dark, it is easy to mistake the two because they are the same height, but there are clear distinctions between them: Max has messy navy hair while Brendan has spiky black hair; Max has glasses while Brendan doesn't. The two of them grin and wave at me before approaching the car.

Max is the first to greet me the second I get out of the vehicle. He has to turn his head to avoid running his chin into my forehead when he goes to hug me. I smile at how tall my little brother is now.

"Nice to see you again, Sis," he says.

"You too, Maxie," I respond as we pull away.

Then, he goes off to take my luggage from our dad. Meanwhile, I turn to Brendan with an amused smile. He meets my blue eyes with his amber ones.

"What're you doing here? Shouldn't you be working with your dad at the lab?" I demand playfully.

"I heard you were coming home today, so I figured I'd use you as an excuse to stop by for Mrs. Maple's cooking," he jokes as he pulls me in for a hug, too.

"She told you to call her Caroline a long time ago, Professor."

"I like to switch back and forth, Maybelle."

"Maybe you shouldn't like you shouldn't call me Maybelle," I tease.

"Maybe you shouldn't tell me what to do," he fires back.

"Maybe you two shouldn't stand here bickering and just go inside," Max interrupts as he walks past us. "Look, Matt's waiting for you two."

Both Brendan and I glance to the front of the house where an adorable 18-month-old toddler is standing underneath the doorway. His bright blue eyes and chubby dimpled cheeks are identical to mine. He is even a brunet, though the brown shade of his hair is closer to our mother's. He looks so much like me that people have actually mistaken him to be my son.

I waste no time in running up to him, but he gets to me first.

"May!" he cries in glee and instantly throws his arms around my calves.

My heart swells with affection for my baby brother. I haven't seen him in three months and it is unbelievable how much he has grown. I don't even have to bend down much when he takes my hand to guide me into the house.

"Hello, sweetie," I say to him. "Did you miss me?"

"Yes," he answers in that cute voice of his.

I smile. "Good, because I missed you, too. Where's Mommy?"

My mother instantly walks into the living room at the sound of my voice.

"Here I am!" she announces, while spreading her arms as she comes toward me.

"Mom!" I exclaim before running into her warm embrace.

People often say that I am the epitome of my mother and quite frankly, I don't mind this sentiment at all. My mother has always been a lovely woman, both internally and externally. She possesses the kind of amiable personality traits and serene facial features that attract everyone to her. Time has done nothing to hinder her appeal; she only grows more stunning with age.

I am not saying that my father isn't equally as attractive, though; he has always been a wonderful man. The few strands of grey hair in his otherwise navy locks, and occasional wrinkles on his face that he has attained throughout the years only complement his handsome face. Max takes after him the most, while Matt and I resemble our mother.

All and all, I would say that I grew up in a rather beautiful family. With them, I always feel relieved and comforted because their love temporarily drives away all of my stress and troubles. That is why I am currently perfectly content with where I am for the first time in months. The rest of the night goes by without a single reminder of Drew.

* * *

I am currently back in Rustboro City to check out a room at the Pokémon Center, where I will be staying until the contest is over. I would have done so right after I landed yesterday, but my mother had insisted on having me spend my first night back on the West Coast of Hoenn at home. I didn't want to upset her so I agreed to her request, even though it meant another unnecessary car ride. Brendan is kind enough to be my driver this morning although he probably considers this to be his method of repayment for staying in the guest room at our house last night. Regardless, I am thankful for him because I'm still too jet-lagged to want to drive.

Matt begged to come with us this morning, so he is currently sitting in his booster seat in the back of Brendan's car. The three of us are going to spend the day together in the city today until Brendan has to take him back home at night. Tomorrow morning, both of them will return to Rustboro with the rest of my family to watch me at the contest.

A sudden thought occurs to me after I turn around from checking on Matt again.

"Brendan?" I beckon nervously.

"Hm?" comes his response.

"Do you think there will be paparazzi at the Pokémon Center?"

"Well, we're almost there, so we'll find out soon. Do you want to hear my honest opinion, though?"

I nod.

"Then yes, I do."

He laughs when I click my tongue at his answer. Always the comforting one, this guy.

But sadly, his statement proves to be right when we arrive at the Pokémon Center. A group of reporters sit right outside of the building with their cameras ready in their hands. The second both of us step out of Brendan's car, they immediately swarm us. The incessant picture taking commences.

Brendan forms a protective stance behind me as I go to get Matt from the back of the car. He whimpers when I stir him from his nap, but he allows me to take him out of the booster seat and into my arms. I place a hand over his eyes to shield them from the blinding flashes of the cameras when I take him out from the protection of the car. Fortunately, he is very tolerant of the paparazzi's obnoxious behavior and simply buries his face into my neck.

"Brendan! May! Where are you guys coming from together?" someone asks.

"Brendan! You've been spotted out with May a couple of times in the past year after her breakup with Drew. Are you interested in pursuing her now that she is single?" another adds.

"No, May has been my best friend for many years. We have been seen together a lot even before the breakup," Brendan answers solemnly, but I can tell that he is amused by the paparazzo's question.

"May! That is such an adorable little boy! He looks so much like you!" a female reporter gushes.

I thank her with a nod and sweet smile.

"He couldn't be your son with Mr. Birch, could he?" she follows up.

I roll my eyes behind my sunglasses at this ridiculous question, while Brendan chuckles and shakes his head.

"No, he's my baby brother," I correct in a tone that I hope is free of the irritation that I am trying to suppress. She, as a reporter, should be very well aware of that fact.

"Oh yeah, that's right! Wasn't he born a little over a year ago? As in, the same year that you broke up with Drew?" a particularly rotten reporter interferes.

Neither of Brendan or I bother to dignify these questions with a response. As if he doesn't know the answers to them, anyway. He was just asking them to get a reaction out of me. I keep my mouth shut and refuse to give him the satisfaction.

The security guards at the Pokémon Center rush to keep the paparazzi from entering the building when we reach the front doors. Brendan quickly holds the door for Matt and me, and we hurry into the safety of the building.

Brendan mocks the female reporter on the way to the front counter.

"Really? Matty is now eighteen months old, and she goes and asks a question like that? Who doesn't know that he is Norman and Caroline Maple's son by now?" he scoffs. "That was definitely one of the dumbest things I have ever heard a paparazzo say."

"You could fill a book with all of the stupid things that a paparazzo has ever said," I insist.

"I'm pretty sure you can fill more than just one book, May."

Both of us laugh at this.

My mood is slightly elevated when the check-in process goes by smoothly. Now, Brendan and I plan to take Matt down to the cafeteria to get some brunch. My bags are still in Brendan's trunk, but I don't want to get them until later. The reporters won't be gone for a while. I think all three of us would like a short break before having to face them again.

Brendan talks to me or plays with Matt on the entire way to the cafeteria; he doesn't let a moment go by in silence. I know that he is doing this because he knows that something is wrong with me. We have been friends since we were very little, and through our years of friendship, he has learned to read me pretty well. He is trying to take my mind off of the guy that the paparazzi mentioned, so I humor him.

But in the midst of telling a joke, Brendan suddenly stops. His eyes widen slightly as he stares ahead of us. I am so confused that I follow his gaze.

My feet nearly stop when I see the person walking toward us. My hands grow clammy. My mouth runs dry. My heart skips a beat. For a second, I almost think that I'm hallucinating. How is it possible that I am actually seeing him here?

But his presence is so incredibly undeniable—and painfully familiar. Everything about him is exactly how I remembered from over a year ago. His messy green hair, his chiseled face, and his built body are the same. Even the way he walks with his hands in his pockets is the same. These observations hit me with such a strong wave of nostalgia that all my emotions leave me at once. I don't know what I feel but anxiety right now.

I wonder if he knows that I am currently appraising him from behind my sunglasses. My mouth is fixed into a straight line to feign nonchalance, though I tighten my grip on Matt to stay calm. He is only a few steps away from me now. I brace myself for whatever exchange we are about to have.

But he simply walks right past me without a single word. Aside from the flicker of recognition that I caught in his emerald green eyes, he gave no other hints of acknowledgement. It was as if I weren't even there.

Brendan slightly gapes from beside me as we continue onto the cafeteria.

"Wasn't that Drew?" he asks eventually.

"Yeah," I manage to force out despite the tightening of my throat. "I guess he's entering the contest after all."

I just can't decide how I feel about that right now.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Drew's finally in the story! Yay! As always, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. It was obviously a lot longer than the first, so I thank you for reading it! Please leave a review with your thoughts. I'll be sure to respond to every one like I did for the last chapter's. :)


	3. New Friend, Old Feeling

Again, thank you all for reading and reviewing the past chapter! I'm sorry for the slight delay with getting this one up. I had some things that were holding me up this week, but I hope that you guys can still enjoy it anyway. Happy reading, everybody. :)

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing that is affiliated with Pokémon.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

* * *

If I had a choice, I would not be choosing to enter this contest today after my restless night. Not only is my skin revealing how much sleep I _didn't_ get, but my mind keeps wandering back to yesterday's encounter. I try to stop it, but it keeps replaying the way that Drew ignored me. The way that he walked past me as if we didn't know each other. As if we were strangers. As if we didn't have a past.

But as far as I'm concerned, I am not reflecting my emotions to the world. No one except Brendan is aware of yesterday's incident, but even he doesn't know how much I was affected by it. After Drew walked away from me, I forced myself out of the initial state of awe that I was left in and readopted the apathetic facade that I wear whenever he is mentioned—or in yesterday's case, seen. I still wear it now as I enter the lobby of the Rustboro City Contest Hall.

A few reporters rush to greet me when I walk through the doors. They follow me as I steadily walk in the direction of the locker room, their cameras flashing rapidly at every angle. Occasionally, I stop to pose for them in order to be courteous. My lips are fixed into what I hope to be a convincing smile as I twist and turn my body according to their requests. Meanwhile, I try my best to exude a reserved air of confidence. I don't want to come across as too modest, but I don't want to appear too arrogant either.

The majority of the sixteen coordinators that will be participating in today's contest are gathered in the lobby now, too. I recognize most of them from previous contests, and I smile at those that make eye contact with me. Then, after a quick scan of the large room, I notice with great relief that _he_ is currently not here. That explains why the paparazzi have yet to ask me anything about him.

But the contest is set to begin in ten minutes, so he could be arriving at any moment. Both my intuition and logic tell me that I will probably not want to be in the same room as him with the paparazzi around. So, with that thought in mind, I quickly dismiss myself from the paparazzi and hurry to the safety of the locker room.

Someone pulls me into an extremely enthusiastic hug the second I step into the room.

"May!" the person happily squeals.

Upon recognizing the voice and noting the head of red hair at the corner of my eye, I eagerly return the hug.

"Brianna! Hey!" I exclaim back.

When she pulls away, I get a look at the teal eyes of my close friend of nearly twelve years, Brianna Lawrence. It's funny, really, because she used to have a crush on Drew back when all three of us were only ten years old. At that time, she viewed me as a rival for Drew's affections, but not too long after, she began to consider me a friend. Over the years, we have maintained a very strong friendship. We make every effort to hang out together as much as possible, whether at contests or out in public.

More coordinators are entering the locker rooms now, so she and I walk over to the nearest bench to avoid blocking their entry.

"It's great to see you again! Are you ready for today's contest?" she inquires as we sit down.

"Just about," I tell her. "What about you?"

"As ready as I can be," she replies with a shrug before her face grows concerned and her tone becomes soft. "How are you feeling? I heard that Drew is actually going to be at this contest today."

I don't blame her for asking this question; she is only looking out for me. Even though she is one of my best friends, I haven't told her anything about Drew since our breakup, just like I haven't told anybody else. And just like everybody else, she hasn't seen him since the breakup, so it is only natural that she would ask such a question.

"Yeah, I know. I saw him yesterday at the Pokémon Center," I say.

Her eyes widen slightly. "You did?"

I nod.

"What happened?"

Before I can answer her, the door of the locker room opens. The conversations that were happening in here gradually stop as everyone looks over in that direction. There are a few gasps when everyone recognizes the coordinator who has just entered the room. Then everyone glances over at me.

I pay no mind to any of the eyes that are staring at me as my own remains transfixed on the green-haired guy standing in the doorway. From the way that he is looking around, I know that he is determining who his competition will be today. When he notices that every coordinator in the room is oddly staring in the same direction, he turns his head to follow their gaze.

His eyes flicker with the same hint of recognition from yesterday when they meet mine, but his face is just as solemn. I keep mine void of emotion, too, as everyone silently awaits whatever exchange that may pass between us. I study his face during this moment of silence and note that he seems to be masking some unknown emotion. I just can't decipher it.

But then he looks away from me and turns to walk over to one of his friends. I feel a sudden surge of anger when I realize with chagrin that he has ignored me _again_. His humiliating act of rejection resurrects the resentment that I had had for him during the period of time following our breakup. It had just begun to ebb in the past few months but now it's back. Full force.

When I turn back to Brianna, my voice is cold as I finally answer her question.

"That happened," I tell her.

The redhead can only offer me a sympathetic look as she comfortingly pats my hand; she understands what I'm referring to. I give her a humorless smile as I feel the resentment within me continue to grow.

Conversations immediately start up around me again. I know what the ones that are being spoken in hushed tones are about, but I act as if I don't. I disregard everyone and everything that is going on around me, and focus only on Brianna. I animatedly engage in our conversation to show everyone how little I care about Drew right now. I don't even look at or mention him once.

At the scheduled time for the start of the contest, the large television that is mounted on the back wall of the locker room automatically powers on. Vivian Meridian, the Hoenn contest announcer, appears on the screen, talking excitedly into the microphone in her hand. She welcomes the crowd to the contest, and they cheer loudly in approval. Afterward, she informs them about the procedure of the contest. The three contest judges—Mr. Contesta, Mr. Sukizo, and the city's Nurse Joy—are given some screen time when they give their occasional input.

All of the coordinators have assembled in the locker room by now. The majority of us are standing around the television, watching with mild interest since we are all well aware of how a contest goes. The only thing that we are waiting to hear is the name of the coordinator who will be giving their appeal first.

"Who do you think will be going first?" the guy standing beside me asks.

I slowly turn to look at him. I wasn't expecting him to talk to me.

Or to be so good looking.

This guy is definitely one of the best pieces of eye candy that I have stumbled upon in a while. His tousled blond hair looks so soft that I want to run my hands through it. His forest green eyes are so brilliant against his slightly tanned skin that I can't look away. And his smile is so charming that I'm nearly rendered speechless.

"I have no clue," I manage to force out. But that's it.

Smooth, May. Very smooth.

Luckily, Mr. Good-Looking only continues to smile at me.

"Well, maybe you have a clue as to what your name is then," he teases. "It's May, right?"

At this, I immediately summon the confidence that I usually have around the male population. I tell myself that he is nothing more than an attractive guy whom I am about to have a flirty exchange with. There is no reason why I should be intimidated.

"Yes," I begin with a playful smile. "And yours is?"

"Alec," he tells me before extending his hand. "Pleasure to meet you."

"Same to you," I respond as I slip my hand into his.

"I'm actually quite hurt that you didn't already know that. Don't you recognize me?"

I can tell that he's joking when he says this, so I chuckle.

"I'll admit, I don't think I've ever seen you at a contest before," I express.

He grins at this. "That's probably because I'm actually based in the Unova region."

"Ah, a Unova guy, huh?"

"Sure am. Born and raised," he informs proudly.

I chuckle again at his cheeky personality. I quite like this guy.

"Then what brings you to Hoenn?" I question.

"Well, I heard that there was this pretty Hoenn coordinator named May, so I wanted to see if I would meet her at a contest here someday."

My lips curl into an amused smile. I am slightly flattered by his fib.

"You're quite a charmer, aren't you?" I tease.

"I try to be," he admits with a laugh.

I can't help but laugh along with him. Cheeky indeed.

At this moment, Vivian Meridian's face returns on the television screen. Alec and I are temporarily distracted from our conversation at the sight of her. She should be getting ready to call the first contestant out onto the stage right about now.

"Alright, folks! We've kept you all waiting long enough. Time to get this contest started!" she exclaims into the microphone. "I'm sure you all remember and missed our first contestant of the day. It has been over a year since we've all seen him, so please give a big and warm welcome to Drew!"

The enthusiastic response of the crowd to this announcement is so loud that it can even be heard from the locker room. Evidently, Drew's popularity hadn't declined with his absence; it has only increased if anything. Though my heart skips a beat at the sound of his name, I give no indication that it did. Instead, I keep my eyes glued to the television screen and my back facing the door to avoid having to look at him.

"So, that Drew guy is the first one to go," says Alec on one side of me.

I prepare to give him a response until I feel Brianna tug on my arm from the other side. I cock an eyebrow at her.

"Did you notice how he was staring at you the entire time that you were talking to Alec?" she whispers in my ear.

"Was he really?" I ask simply.

My bored voice doesn't give away how smug I suddenly feel from this piece of news. I just keep staring at the television screen and watch as he walks onto the stage.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Remember Alec? He's baaack. ;) As always, please leave a review! Get ready for Drew's appeal in the next chapter. Thanks for reading!


	4. Over the Edge

I made a mistake in the past chapter, guys...**I meant to make Alec a coordinator from the _Unova_ region, _not_ Sinnoh**. Haha, I'm so sorry. How embarrassing. xD But I see you all seemed to have liked jealous Drew. Good, because I do, too. ;) Thank you all for reading and reviewing the past chapter! Happy reading. :)

**Guest:** I'm sorry that I couldn't send a private message to thank you for the reviews since you left them anonymously. :\ But I didn't want to let you go thinking that I'm not thankful for them, so I'll just leave my response here. Thank you for reading and for your kind reviews! I appreciate your support loads. :D

**Chipolata (Guest): **The same goes to you, except you left a name for me to refer to you by. To answer your question, the plot of this story is completely different from _Absol_, though it does retain practically the same concept. Thank you for the review and for reading! I also very much appreciate your support. :D

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing that is affiliated with Pokémon. Every pokémon in this chapter is capable of the moves that it uses as proven by the information provided on Serebii.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

* * *

When Drew walks out into the arena, the cheering noticeably intensifies. The crowd welcomes him back with a vigor that shows just how much they have missed him. A few audience members are even on their feet as they applaud his first entry back onto the contest stage. Their ebullient response to him mirrors the one that audiences had for him in the past. He has clearly won the crowd over all over again.

Drew himself shows no signs of having ever been gone from the contest scene. His demeanor is full of the characteristic arrogance that he flaunted before his absence, and his trademark smirk is flowered on his face. Once he walks onto the stage, he stops to give his bangs his signature flick before reaching into the pocket of his jeans to retrieve a PokéBall.

The female audience members scream their approval at his action. Meanwhile, I feel a mixture of aversion and nostalgia. I used to find that habit of his so charming and amusing that I would tease him about it. Now, I just want to curl my lip in disdain. The gesture makes him seem so unbearably _cocky_.

The crowd quiets down now after Drew selects his PokéBall. In one fluid motion, he enlarges it and sends it into the air. Everyone eagerly waits to see which one of his pokémon will appear.

But rather than a pokémon, a mysterious winged figure of fire soars out from his PokéBall instead. It flies toward the ceiling, where it releases a cry before ripping itself free of the cloak of flames and revealing itself to the crowd.

"Wow, so the pokémon was Flygon! That was quite an entrance," Vivian exclaims into the microphone. "Drew clearly hasn't lost his touch!"

The camera shoots to Drew's face after this comment. He still wears his smirk as he prepares to call out a direction for Flygon.

"Draco Meteor!" he commands in the same authoritative voice that I remember.

Sparkling comets appear in the air and then begin to rain down. Each of them collides with a wad of the flames that Flygon had shed before they all continue to fall to the ground.

"Now, Hidden Power!"

An invisible force lifts the fiery comets back into the air and organizes them into a wide ring around Flygon. Then, with a flap of his wings, Flygon sends them to the edge of the stage. A moment later, they explode into a magnificent array of fireworks and Flygon lands down on the stage beside Drew.

At the end of Drew's appeal, he and Flygon take a bow as the audience roars with applause. Vivian speaks excitedly into her microphone, gushing about the "fantastic finale" of Drew's appeal. The judges all grant him with generous compliments before finally awarding him with a staggering score of 28.7 points for his appeal.

The locker room is currently buzzing with discussion. Drew has undoubtedly aroused some distress in many of the coordinators in here. His score has set an incredibly high range for us all to aim for if we want a chance of advancing on to the battle rounds. I even have to admit that I'm feeling a little bit intimidated, too.

Alec whistles lowly from beside me.

"That Drew guy's really good. Is this really his first contest in over a year?" he asks.

"Yeah. Do you not know anything about him?" I inquire with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't know anything about any Hoenn coordinators," he confesses with a grin. "Us Unova coordinators don't pay much attention to ones in other regions."

I feel relieved at this piece of information rather than insulted. If he doesn't know anything about Hoenn coordinators then that means he doesn't know anything about me and Drew.

I give him a small smile in return. "Then how did you know my name earlier?"

"Well, your friend over there squealed your name out loudly enough for the whole room to hear. It was kind of hard to miss."

Hearing this, Brianna feigns a dramatic gasp. She leans forward from the other side of me to regard Alec incredulously.

"I did _not_ squeal that loudly," she insists.

Alec leans forward, too.

"Hence why I said loudly _enough_," he shoots back.

"Both of you hush," I interrupt with a laugh. "Vivian's about to call out the next coordinator."

Both of them oblige and lean back with amused expressions.

"Now, after such a spectacular performance by Drew, we have another treat for you all. Today, we're lucky enough to have a coordinator from another region competing in this contest—and a rather attractive one, too, if I may add," Vivian says. "Please join me in welcoming the hunky Unova coordinator, Alec!"

"Hey, that's me," Alec jokes from beside me. "See you all in a bit!"

"Good luck," Brianna and I chorus as we turn around to follow him with our eyes. A few other coordinators mutter their good wishes to him as well.

He turns to give us all a two-finger salute and cheeky grin before he walks to the door. Just when he prepares to put his hand on the doorknob, the door opens and Drew walks in.

"Hey, that was a brilliant appeal you gave there," Alec cheerily remarks to him.

Drew looks as solemn now as he did before he went out to the stage. He regards Alec with his emerald green eyes, hesitating before responding.

"Thank you," he eventually mutters coolly before moving out of the way to let Alec pass.

After Drew closes the door behind him, he looks up to see everyone watching him. For a brief moment, we make eye contact, but I quickly look away. _I _will not be the one who is ignored this time. I'm giving him a taste of his own medicine as I turn my attention back to the television while everyone else goes to congratulate him.

Alec is a cool figure of nonchalance as he strolls into the arena. He has one hand in the pocket of his jeans and uses the other to wave to the audience. The female crowd is going wild at the sight of him, showing that they have already been won over by his handsome looks. The male crowd only gives him a modest applause as he walks onto the stage.

When he opens a PokéBall in the palm of his hand, everyone waits in anticipation for whatever Unova pokémon that he has brought with him.

But then the PokéBall begins to fade away as a strange black circle wafts out from it, and travels all the way down Alec's arm. The crowd gasps as it erases the rest of Alec's body and continues to spread throughout the entire room. Eventually, everything is completely swallowed in darkness, making the crowd, the judges, and Vivian appear as if they are floating in mid air.

"What _is_ this?" Vivian breathes into her microphone, which she clenches tightly in both of her hands in fear. "I can't see a thing."

Surprise becomes evident on her face when a purple flame suddenly flickers in the midst of the darkness. Then, others scatter throughout the entire area, looking like stars in a night sky. No one understands what is going on until gradually, dozens of the same pokémon appear in the air.

The purple flames flare at the top of their striped heads, while other tiny wisps ignite from the ends of their curled arms. Aside from their pupil-less yellow eyes, they look like chandeliers.

"Ah, what a marvelous pokémon," Mr. Contesta's voice remarks. "Ladies and gentlemen, take a good look at this rare fire-and-ghost type pokémon from the Unova region, Chandelure!"

After Mr. Contesta's comment, the chandelure begin to be absorbed by the central purple fire. As this happens, the edges of the darkness begin to regress, slowly uncovering the arena. A single chandelure materializes from underneath the flame after the others vanish and the light is restored. Then, Alec reappears out of thin air right below it on the stage. His bow signals the end of the appeal.

Some of the audience members are gaping in awe, while the rest cheers for Alec's amazing appeal. The judges praise him for his creative idea before giving him a solid score of 29 points, putting him ahead of Drew.

Somehow, this makes me feel smug all over again. I have to suppress the urge to hug Alec when he returns to the locker room. Instead, I settle for congratulating him like the rest of the coordinators.

Except I add a touch to his arm, just in case Drew is watching us again. Arousing jealousy from an ex is always fun after all.

After Alec, most of the other coordinators get called to go make their appeals. Their performances fall short in comparison to Drew's and Alec's, and only a few manage to score higher than 25 points. But I'm still nervous when Vivian finally calls me out onto the stage to give my appeal, the last one before the mid contest break.

Alec and Brianna immediately go to wish me luck. A few others do the same (though Drew is unsurprisingly _not_ one of them) and I thank them all before heading to a different door in the locker room. Everyone gives me questioning looks—I can even feel _his_ eyes scrutinizing me—but I simply grin and close the door behind me.

The door opens to a corridor that leads me down to the bottom of the contest stage. I'm attempting a different entrance for my appeal today, one that I got approved by the Contest Hall staff a week before the contest. The stagehand who was waiting for me presses a button on his controller to lower the PokéBall from the center of the stage when he sees me approaching.

I thank the man before stepping onto the circular platform. Then, I release my glaceon from her PokéBall. She looks up at me and I nod for her to make her first move. A ring of ice immediately encircles us and spirals upward as the platform lifts us up onto the stage.

The wall of ice rushes past our heads, providing a wall between us and the crowd. They can't see us but I can hear their sounds of awe as the tower of ice continues to build toward the ceiling. I resist the urge to shiver as the temperature steadily drops in this tight space.

Once the tower of ice touches the ceiling of the contest building, Glaceon shrouds both of us in a Protect to shield us from her next move. Then, she opens her mouth and fires a Hyper Beam. The inside of the tower is lit up as the white beam rebounds from every inch of the tower, cracking it all the way to the top. A few seconds later, the tower shatters.

The crowd cheers when Glaceon and I are finally revealed. To conclude the performance, Glaceon ruffles her fur and shoots out a Swift attack. Dozens of stars strike the shards of ice in the air, reducing them to delicate snowflakes that sprinkle down onto the arena and cover it in a beautiful white blanket.

The crowd erupts into applause as Glaceon and I bow. For our appeal, the judges reward us with a 28.7. Whispers break out among the audience members as they realize that I have received the same score as Drew. However, I choose to ignore this fact.

I walk towards the exit of the arena after Vivian announces the start of the five-minute break. On my way, I notice my family and Brendan sitting in the stands. They wave enthusiastically at me and gesture for me to meet them out in the lobby. I withdraw Glaceon into her PokéBall before going to do so.

When I enter the lobby, I find it crowded with people. A few of the coordinators in the locker room are in here receiving interviews from the paparazzi. I duck my head to avoid being seen by any of them as I meander around in search of my family.

The air is knocked out of me when I suddenly crash into someone. I gasp as I struggle to regain my balance. A hand grabs my arm just in time to save me from falling to the ground.

"Thank y—" I begin to say until I freeze when I am struck with the chilling realization that I had bumped into _Drew_.

He opens and closes his mouth as he stares at me, seeming about as surprised as I am. But then he quickly rearranges his face into an emotionless mask and retracts his hand from my arm. My skin is left feeling as if it has been burned by his touch.

The paparazzi have unfortunately caught our exchange before I can make my escape. Cameras flash and microphones are thrust in our faces as they swarm around us. I try my best to put as much distance between us, but they converge and force us closer together.

And then the questioning begins.

"Drew! Why such a rush to jerk your hand away from May?"

"Drew! Just yesterday, May was spotted with Professor Birch's son, Brendan. What are your thoughts on their relationship? Do you think they are dating?"

"Does it upset you that your ex-girlfriend has possibly already moved on?"

"Have _you_ moved on?"

"You two were the 'Golden Coordinator Couple of Hoenn.' Since you both are here together now, could you guys explain the fallout of your relationship?"

"Is there a possible chance for reconciliation?"

"Do you guys have any words for one another?"

"What happens if you two have to go against one another in the battle rounds?"

"May! How do you think Drew did so far on his first contest back?"

As they continue to interrogate us, the world around me begins to spin. Suddenly, everything becomes too overwhelming. Claustrophobia rises and conflicting emotions battle for dominance within me. Embarrassment. Chagrin. _Despair_.

I want nothing more than to leave this place right now. I can't think. I can't speak. I can barely _breathe_.

All the while, Drew remains infuriatingly calm as he tries to excuse himself and leave.

Suddenly, a hand grabs mine and pulls me out from the middle of the chaos. Upon looking up from the ground, I realize with tremendous relief that my savior is none other then Brendan. He skillfully pulls me away and leads me to the closest flight of stairs. Luckily, the paparazzi don't notice us in their frenzy over Drew, and we manage to make our escape to the roof of the contest building.

"Are you alright?" Brendan asks me immediately, concern etched all over his face.

His face sparks something inside of me. My mouth opens, but no words come out. A single tear rolls down my cheek as I suck in a ragged intake of breath.

And then I start to _cry_. For the first time in nearly two years, I break out into tears. I shake with the amount of force that my body exerts in order to drive them out. My legs even buckle out from beneath and I fall to the ground.

Nearly two years worth of tears are being spilled into this moment and _I just can't stop_.

"I don't know what happened with him," I sob. "I don't know what happened with _us_, Brendan."

Brendan doesn't say another word. He simply comes and puts his arms around me.

I only fall into his embrace and allow myself to unleash all of the pain that I have worked so hard to suppress.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Thoughts? As usual, please leave them in a review. This chapter was longer than I had intended for it to be, but thank you all for reading!


	5. Master of Illusion

Before the chapter begins, I would just like to apologize for the delay of this chapter. I had a rather rough past week in which I had both no time and motivation to write. Regardless, I didn't want to miss an update, so here it is. Hopefully the length makes up for the delay. Please enjoy and happy reading. :)

**Chipolata: **Yes he is, isn't he? :( But don't worry! Good Drew will be returning in a few chapters. :) Thank you for reading and reviewing!

**FicReader:** Ahh, thank you for giving me something to address you by! :) Since their love story in this fic is based off of my own past relationship, I think that if I were May, I would be completely over Drew if our time apart had been eight years. But since it has been only two years, she hasn't had much time to really process their relationship. You will be finding out about most of their relationship in this chapter! Thank you for reading and reviewing!

**TheOnlyOne:** I love you, too! Thank you for the cyber cookies and for reading and reviewing! ;D

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing that is affiliated with Pokémon. Every pokémon in this chapter is capable of the moves that it uses as proven by the information provided on Serebii.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

* * *

Drew and I met on the Slateport City Beach nearly twelve years ago when we were both only ten years. I was practicing my appeal for my first contest when he came along and insulted both me and my pokémon. His comments riled me up beyond belief, and it enraged me even more when he casually brushed me off as if I were nothing. To him, I was just a new coordinator with an amusing feisty temperament. To me, he was just an experienced coordinator with an infuriating supercilious attitude.

Needless to say, I did not like him very much. Our first encounter immediately sparked a fierce rivalry between us.

However, that rivalry eventually evolved into a deep friendship—Drew and I became each other's best friend. We relied on each other for support and confided in each other for everything. Even though he still liked to rile me up to start arguments (he had claimed that I was "adorable" whenever I was angry) we had never truly been at odds. The entire friendship ran very smoothly.

All of that changed nine years later on the day that Drew confessed his feelings to me. We had been participating in a contest that day and he had been acting strangely. I had thought that he was just nervous about the contest until I realized that he _never_ got nervous about contests. That was when I became a little worried.

But before I could ask him about his unusual behavior, he had pulled me aside in the contest hall locker room to tell me that he wanted to talk to me about something after the contest. When the time came, he presented me with his confession.

"I'm sorry if this is really sudden, but I can't keep this from you any longer," he had begun to say. "I like you. I _really_ like you. I don't know when exactly these feelings for you began to grow, but I honestly can't see you as just a best friend anymore. I've been trying to suppress and ignore these feelings for the past couple of years, but I've been failing. Every time I look at you, I fall for you even more."

He paused then to clasp my hands. His eyes were smoldering with passion.

"I'm telling you this now because I don't want to hide it anymore," he continued. "And I need to know: how do you feel about me, May? Please ignore the fact that I've been your best friend for all of these years and just answer me truthfully."

I was speechless for a moment after hearing his words. Up until that moment, I had never considered my feelings for Drew. His sudden confession surprised me and left me confused. I wasn't sure of how I felt about him at all.

But I couldn't find it in me to tell my best friend that I didn't reciprocate his feelings.

So I rashly told him that I liked him back. And when he beamed and asked if we could give a relationship a try, I agreed. Maybe it was wrong of me to act on such uncertainty, but I couldn't bring myself to reject him.

After we began to date, we started to travel together as well. Drew was a wonderful boyfriend who made me feel very loved and appreciated every single day. His daily touches and kisses exhilarated me, and when he told me that he loved me, his words thrilled me. I tried my best to make him as happy as possible while I was his girlfriend. We were still each other's best friend, but we had gained a comfortable romantic element.

But even so, the relationship didn't work. Although Drew and I were still very loving towards each other, we began to argue a lot more frequently and seriously. There were a lot of things that we weren't satisfied with about each other. Although I never liked to tell him about my feelings, he would always make it a point to tell me his. In fact, he was always the one who started the arguments. He would angrily express his discontent towards something and I would relentlessly combat his argument. He would apologize and I would forgive. It was an endless cycle, and it was extremely tiring.

Eventually, I grew tired of the relationship altogether. I couldn't fully engross myself in it because I considered it exhausting. I found that I had enjoyed our friendship much more because it was much less strenuous. I didn't like the hardships that came with dating my best friend. I just didn't like dating him at all.

So after a year into the relationship, I finally called it off. Drew was the one who initiated the relationship, I was the one who ended it.

At the time, I was so confident of my decision. I had thought that we would be better off as friends. Perhaps it was selfish of me, but I had thought that we would immediately resume our friendship as if the relationship had never occurred.

But unfortunately, things did not go the way that I wanted them to go. My decision caused a bigger rift between Drew and I than I had ever imagined possible.

I was initially worried about Drew after we broke up. He had insisted that he needed some time away from me in order to cope with the end of our relationship. Since I was the one who initiated it, I respected his wishes and left him alone. We parted ways for a while so that he could have his time.

Except he had never specified the precise amount of time that he needed. I spent the first few months after our breakup anxiously waiting for him to contact me. There were a few times when I considered contacting him instead, but I always refrained from doing so. He had promised that he would come back to me when he was ready. I held him to that promise because I believed that he would keep it.

But he never did.

Eventually, I grew tired of waiting. The patience that I had devoted to him gradually gave way to resentment. I became so angry with him that even the mere mentioning of his name had infuriated me to no end. All my memories of him became tainted with bitterness. And when he suddenly vanished from the public eye, I automatically assumed that it was because of me.

However, my anger towards him did not wane. I viewed his abrupt disappearance as a cowardly act, one of utmost betrayal. We were such great friends before the start of our relationship, so I could not understand why we couldn't resume our friendship. His absence devastated me beyond the explanation of words. He had promised me before our relationship that he would never leave me under any circumstances.

But he broke that promise. He broke the other one, too. And I wanted nothing more to do with him.

The gossip was the most difficult to endure. Our breakup had made headlines throughout the entire region. Every magazine and news article announced the split of Hoenn's "Golden Coordinating Couple." Paparazzi and reporters hounded me for information since Drew wasn't available for them to interrogate. Each question that they asked had felt like a fresh sprinkle of salt on my wounds.

But no matter how much pain I felt, I never projected it. I never shed a tear. I refused to let anyone know how much his absence affected me. I convinced myself that he did not matter. I hid behind an impassive facade for nearly two years to avoid humiliation and hurt.

Until this very moment where I can't hide anymore. As I tell Brendan everything that happened between Drew and I, I can feel my facade crumbling down. Now, the pain that I prohibited myself from feeling in the past two years is coursing through me. It is fresh, intense, and excruciating_. _

It _hurts_.

"I don't even know why he left for so long," I mutter, my voice hoarse from crying. "That's the worst part."

"And he hasn't told you anything? Hasn't said a word to you since you first saw him again yesterday?" Brendan inquires from beside me.

I shake my head and wipe away a tear on my face.

"I wish he would. All of this would hurt so much less if I just had some closure," I whisper.

Instead of responding, Brendan guides my head onto his shoulder and wraps an arm around me. Then, he begins to rub my arm in a soothing manner, allowing me to find comfort in his embrace.

We both lose track of time as we sit on the roof of the Contest Hall, and I allow myself to temporarily forget about the contest. I don't wonder about whether or not I have made it to the battle rounds. I don't care about whether or not they have started. I don't worry about whether or not I have missed my turn. I don't think about the contest at all.

The only thing I can think about is how tired I am. I'm exhausted. I am both mentally and physically drained.

"Maybe you ought to say something to him, May," Brendan suggests after a while.

I shake my head against his chest.

"I don't think I can," I say.

"Why not?" he asks, while pulling back to look at me.

"Because I don't know if I should...and I'm afraid," I insist as I pull my legs up to my chest. "It's been nearly two years since we've last seen each other and we haven't talked since then. I'm afraid of what he'll say to me or what he'll do if I were to say something to him." I pause to sigh and try not to cry. "I'm afraid he hates me."

"May, don't think that way," Brendan says. "If you want to get closure then you're going to have to talk to him. Don't let those irrational fears hold you back."

I shake my head again.

"I can't, Brendan," I insist. "At least not right now."

"Then when?"

"I don't know. Just not now."

"Okay then. Just know that I'll always be here for you whenever you need me."

"Thank you, Brendan," I say, turning to him with a small smile.

He clasps my hand and gives it an affectionate squeeze as he smiles back.

"You're welcome, May," he says. "Now, how about you go back to the contest? I'm sure the battle rounds have already begun by now and your appeal definitely got you into the first round."

"But there's only four battles in the first round and they're each only five minutes long. They're probably nearly over if not already."

"You never know. Just go back down and see," he insists. Then he stands up and offers me his hand.

I hesitate for a moment but I eventually relent and take his hand. He helps me up and walks me back down to the door of the locker room. From the noise coming from the end of the corridor, I can tell that a battle is currently going on.

"Alright, this is as far as I can take you. Good luck, May," Brendan says and pulls me in for a hug.

"Okay. Thank you for everything, Brendan. Hopefully my battle isn't already over," I respond with a humorless smile.

After we pull away, Brendan heads back to the stands. I take a deep breath before I pull open the door of the locker room and head in.

Brianna immediately heads over when she notices that I've walked in.

"Hey, are you alright?" she whispers as she comes up to me.

I put on the most convincing smile that I can.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks," I say. "How are the battles coming along?"

"Alright, good. Your dad and I asked the judges to delay your battle. You'll be the last to go before the semifinal rounds."

"When will that be?"

"After this one. It's nearly over now, so I'm glad that you made it back in time."

"Alright," I say. "Who's battled so far?"

Brianna bites her lip for a moment and shifts her weight from one foot to the other.

"Um, Drew was the first to go, and he won his battle. I went after him, but I lost mine. The current one is between Alec and another coordinator, and he's winning his," she answers.

I nod and offer her my sympathy for her loss. She assures me that she's fine before she takes my hand and walks me over to a spare bench, which I notice is as far away from Drew as possible.

I look over to him after I sit down. When I notice that he isn't looking at me _again_, my heart wrenches and I am filled with the urge to cry again. As I fight back the tears and stare at him, I am struck with the crippling realization that I _miss_ him. I yearn to cross the room and talk to him just like Brendan encouraged me to do.

But I can't. Not right now. Not when I'm still so emotionally unstable. I force myself to focus on the television to avoid riling up unwanted emotions.

Vivian calls me out to the stage after Alec returns from winning his battle. We pass each other in the corridor and he wishes me luck. I politely thank him and congratulate him on his victory before stepping out into the arena.

My battle against my opponent passes in a blur. I battle with my venusaur and command her according to what I see fit. I tell her to attack when I see an opportunity for a direct hit and to dodge when my opponent's mightyena strikes back. Because of her large size, Venusaur's speed is inferior to that of Mightyena's. But she manages to perfectly deflect mostly all of Mightyena's attacks, taking only a few hits here and there.

At the end of the five minutes, Mightyena is out cold and I am announced as the winner of the battle. I return Venusaur to her PokéBall and walk back to the locker room as the crowd cheers for my victory.

Then the matchups of the semifinalists are announced. Drew is paired with a coordinator that I don't know, leaving me paired up with none other then Alec. After Drew goes and wins his battle (unsurprisingly), Alec and I are called out for ours.

Said boy turns to me with a cheeky grin and offers me a hand.

"Shall I escort you out to battle?" he jokes.

I laugh despite my low mood and accept his hand to let him lead me out into the arena.

The crowd goes wild when they see Alec and I emerge into the arena together, but I can't decide if they are cheering more for me or him. Vivian gives us both words of encouragement before announcing the start of the battle. The timer begins and the battle commences.

Both Alec and I release our pokémon of choice onto our respective sides of the battlefield. I'm choosing to battle with Blaziken, while Alec has chosen another Unova pokémon by the name of Zoroark. With one look at the bipedal pokémon, I become slightly uneasy.

The pokémon looks very sinister and dark. It is mostly covered in brownish-grey fur with the exception of the scruff of black fur around its shoulders and its large crimson mane, which resembles a ponytail and is black at the ends. Its nails are blood red and the same color rims its teal eyes, which are the same color as the bangle that goes around the end of its mane. The side of its snout displays its wicked smile. I never expected Alec to own such a pokémon.

"Zoroark, Aerial Ace!" Alec immediately commands.

Zoroark rushes forward so quickly that it becomes a black blur. I barely have enough time to organize my thoughts and order Blaziken to dodge.

"Jump out of the way, Blaziken!" I call.

Blaziken somersaults right over Zoroark just in time before the pokémon crashes into her. But Zoroark simply skids to a stop and turns around to spit out a Flamethrower.

Surprised, I hurriedly order Blaziken to fire one right back.

Smoke erupts from the point where the two attacks meet. As I wait for it to clear, I spare a glance over to the scoreboard to check the status of my points. A slight fraction of the meter is missing, but I am still ahead of Alec.

Alec is quick to try and change that though.

"Zoroark, Fury Swipes!" he commands.

Once again, Zoroark dashes toward Blaziken, only this time with its claws honed and ready to strike.

Blaziken throws her arms up to block every single one of Zoroark's swipes. Soft thuds can be heard as her wrists connect with Zoroarks to force its claws away. On the final strike, she twists her wrist around Zoroark's and seizes it. Then, she uses it to pull Zoroark into herself before kicking the pokémon away with a powerful Blaze Kick.

Zoroark soars through the sky briefly before landing with a graceful roll. The wicked smile is still present on its face as it stands back up, seemingly unscathed.

Agitated by its flexibility, I don't hesitate to call out another attack.

"Flare Blitz!"

Blaziken cloaks herself in flames before charging at Zoroark. The pokémon reciprocates by running forward to meet Blaziken with another Aerial Ace. Right before they make contact, I order a Low Kick with the hopes of tripping Zoroark and lowering Alec's points.

But the pokémon simply jumps and rolls over Blaziken's back. After its feet touch the ground, it swiftly punches the stunned Blaziken in the face with a Sucker Punch.

With an angry growl, Blaziken retaliates with a Flamethrower in the face on her own.

The two pokémon then begin to circle each other. Blaziken wears a menacing scowl on her face as she glares at Zoroark. Zoroark smirks back with its mane swishing tauntingly behind it.

I almost resent Alec for having such an amazing pokémon. But when he grins at me from across the battlefield, I can't help but grin right back.

But my mouth drops when Zoroark suddenly uses Double Team. A dozen copies of the pokémon appear and encircle Blaziken.

Blaziken immediately stops moving to study the copies of her opponent. Meanwhile, I search for the telltale shadow that should be under the real Zoroark to reveal it. But I'm shocked to find that every single zoroark has a shadow beneath it.

"Ah, the workings of a pokémon that is capable of illusions," Mr. Contesta says with an admiring grin. "The real Zoroark has created shadows underneath all of its clones to conceal itself."

I scowl after hearing this. This just makes things tougher for me. And with only a minute left of the time, it may just be a disadvantage.

Before I can come up with a tactic to uncover the real Zoroark, Alec commands a Hyper Beam. All of the zoroarks open their snouts and unleash impressive beams of lights.

"Blaziken, jump!"

Blaziken leaps into the air just in time before the attacks hit. With her immense leg strength, she achieves a great height that leaves the audience gaping in awe.

The zoroark copies quickly disappear, leaving the real Zoroark to look up at her. For a moment, I think that Blaziken has gained an aerial advantage.

But before I can command an attack from above, Zoroark uses Bounce and launches itself into the air as well. I'm horrified to see that it is now _above_ Blaziken.

"Amazing! Zoroark has just managed to surpass Blaziken's magnificent height!" Vivian cries excitedly into her microphone as the crowd roars in approval.

Alec smirks and calls his final attack.

Zoroark's eyes begin to glow as its body is shrouded in a bright red aura. It throws its arms back behind its head, putting all of its power into its hands. Then, it swings its arms back forward and unleashes an incredible black shock wave that barrels into Blaziken. The force from the attack is enough to send Blaziken plummeting to the ground.

The timer goes off just as Zoroark lands easily beside an unconscious Blaziken.

"And there goes the finishing blow, Night Daze, a move that is exclusive to just Zoroark and its pre-evolution, Zorua! Blaziken is out cold!" Vivian exclaims. "The winner of today's last semifinal battle is Alec!"

Both Alec and I return our pokémon from our sides of the stage. The loss stings, but I'm still able to genuinely return his uneasy smile. I walk off the stage with nothing but respect and admiration for the amazing coordinator I just battled.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, get ready for the final match of today's contest between Drew and Alec!" Vivian announces.

The crowd grows wild with anticipation.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I give you guys my word that the next chapter _will_ go up on time _this_ _weekend_ so that you guys won't have to wait too long for Drew and Alec's battle. Thank you all so much for your patience for this chapter! As always, please leave your thoughts in a review. Thank you for reading. :)


	6. Forced Smiles

I promised you guys that this chapter would be on time this week, right? ;D Thank you all for the reading and reviewing! Please be sure to do so again for this chapter. Happy reading. :)

**MedievalKnight:** Thank you so much for your sweet review! It was very kind of you to refer to me as that! :D

**Chipolata:** Ahahahah, let's see then, shall we? ;D

**FicReader:** Why thank you very much. :)

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing that is affiliated with Pokémon. Every pokémon in this chapter is capable of the moves that it uses as proven by the information provided on Serebii.

* * *

**Chapter 6**

* * *

The timer begins for the final battle of today's contest. The two participating coordinators face each other on opposite sides of the battlefield, their pokémon in front of them and ready for battle. An absol stands on one end and a samurott stands on the other. The absol is all so familiar to me, while the samurott is completely foreign.

The large quadrupled pokémon is yet another one from the Unova region. Beige-colored armor embellishes each of its four legs, and the same armor encases the middle of its wide, fin-like tail. Bushy white whiskers extend from its snout from beneath the beige shell that sits on its head like a helmet. Its orange eyes glare at Absol with the same determination that Alec wears on his face.

Once again, he is the first to start off the battle with a quick head-on attack.

"Samurott, Aqua Jet!" he says.

Water engulfs Samurott as it leaps into the air. It looks like a water bullet that shoots toward Absol with incredible speed.

Drew decides to meet the direct attack with one of his own.

"Absol, Aerial Ace!" he commands.

Absol dashes forward with a speed that rivals that of Samurott's. When he collides with Samurott in the middle of the battlefield, he jumps back and flips onto his paws. Then at Drew's command, he unleashes a Shadow Ball from its mouth. The purple and black sphere flies out and successfully makes contact with Samurott.

"Water Pledge!" Alec instantly retaliates.

Absol braces himself as a blue aura surrounds Samurott, preparing for whatever attack that the pokémon may unleash. Except the attack doesn't come from where he expects; it comes from the ground. A column of water shoots up from beneath him, forcing him up towards the ceiling before disappearing and sending him back down. His legs nearly buckle as he lands back on the ground with a tremendous slam.

Drew gives Absol a moment to shake away the pain from the force of the impact. His own green eyes reflect the frustration that he doesn't allow himself to show on the surface.

"Flash!" he calls when Absol is ready.

A blinding light emits from the black oval on Absol's forehead. Samurott and the audience members squint as they try to see, but everyone fails to make out anything in the bright light.

But then Absol rushes through the light in a white and black blur. Samurott barely manages to blink before Absol rams into it and pins it down with a Double-Edge.

"Now, Thunder!" comes Drew's voice.

The brightness dissipates just in time for everyone to see Absol leaping off of Samurott. But before the pokémon can get up, a large thunderbolt crashes down onto it. It roars as the attack inflicts a great deal of pain upon it, causing its trainer's points to decrease as well.

Alec grits his teeth as he waits for Samurott to recover from the devastating attack. Unlike Drew, his emotions are quite evident on his face. He looks rather irritated.

"Hydro Cannon!" he calls in a tone that reflects his mood.

My heart rate increases at the name of the attack. Everyone leans forward in their seats as they prepare to witness the most powerful attack that only a few water-type pokémon are capable of learning. The slight widening of Drew's eyes indicates that he is as aware of this fact as we are.

"Blizzard, Absol!" he hastily commands.

Just as an enormous blue orb blasts forth from Samurott's mouth, Absol throws up an incredible wall of ice in front of himself. It is an attempt to provide a barrier between himself and the Hydro Cannon, but it fails miserably. The attack shatters the wall into hundreds of ice shards with a force that is powerful enough to send Absol flying across the battlefield.

Drew's points suffer a dramatic deduction for this, making them level with Alec's with only a minute left on the clock. I grip my hands together in my lap as the crowd gasps. I can't decide whom I want to root for, so I settle for remaining silent as I watch Absol manage to bring himself to a stop. Streaks of the ground are missing from where he dug his nails into it.

Alec wears a smug grin now as he registers his new advantage in the battle. He spares Absol no time to recover from Samurott's blow.

"Grass Knot!" he exclaims.

Absol roars when blades of grass suddenly sprout up from the ground and ensnare him. He thrashes about, trying to rip himself free from the vines but to no avail. They fly up and lace around his body, slowly covering every inch of it.

"Now, Razor Shell!"

Samurott suddenly gets up to stand on its hind legs, revealing its greyish blue underbelly to the stunned audience. The two pieces of armor on its front legs morph into seamitars that it grasps and crosses in front of itself. It presses its tail to the ground to gain the leverage to launch itself forward in the air.

Surprise briefly flashes across Drew's face before he fashions his features back into a solemn mask. I can see the concentration in his eyes as he quickly rattles his brain for a quick solution.

Then it comes to him.

"Absol, Flamethrower at the grass!" he commands.

With a loud roar, Absol breaks his head free of the grass that covered his head. Before more can take its place, Absol aims a Flamethrower at the ground beneath himself and sets the rest of the pieces on fire. The crowd gasps when the flames continue to travel all the way up his body, setting it on fire in the process. Even Alec seems stunned.

But Absol isn't fazed at all by the flames that shroud his body. Instead, he dashes forward to meet up with Samurott in his own version of Flame Wheel.

"Finish it with Razor Wind!" Drew calls.

Absol quickly rears his head back, the scythe on the side of his head glowing white, before whipping it back forward and unleashing a powerful blast of wind. The attack crashes into Samurott and sends it flying back to Alec. It whips up dust as it skids across the battlefield just as the timer reaches its end.

Everyone turns to look at the large display screen that solely occupies the wall above the judges' heads. I see the same message that is presented to everyone: Drew has won the battle.

As Vivian and the judges gush over Drew's victory, Max turns to me after talking to my parents.

"Do you want to leave now so that we can avoid traffic?" he offers, but his words possess an underlying meaning.

I'm struck with a pang of appreciation for my little brother. I know that he is only offering this to spare me from having another encounter with the paparazzi and Drew, and from watching Drew receive his ribbon. Quite frankly, I'm not too keen on doing either things.

"Yeah," I say with a small smile, "I'd like that."

He returns my smile with one of his own.

A few minutes later, I'm out in the Contest Hall parking lot with my family and Brendan. We successfully dodged the paparazzi by choosing a different route to exit the Contest Hall. But even though they are all currently inside the building, my family doesn't take their time with piling inside Max's car to leave.

Since I have the contest after party to attend tonight, I'm not going with them. Brendan is going to be my date, so he is staying in the city with me as well. Both of us wave my family goodbye as they pull out of their parking spot and drive away.

"How are you feeling?" Brendan asks when we begin walking after the car is out of view.

"Are you referring to the Drew situation or my lost battle?" I lightheartedly inquire.

"Both."

I give a brief humorless smile.

"The battle is nothing. I've lost plenty before today's contest and I'm sure there'll be more," I insist. "But as for the Drew situation, I'm still conflicted. It hurt watching him today, you know. I had a different identity the last time that I saw him in a contest."

Brendan nods in understanding. He regards me with his compassionate amber eyes.

"Will you be fine with seeing him tonight at the party? We don't have to go if you don't want to," he says.

"No, I'll go. I'll go to show everyone that I'm capable of staying on my feet."

A proud smile lights up his face as we reach a fork in the road.

"Thatta girl. Show them that you're strong enough to stay standing," he encourages.

Then, he reaches over to pull me into his warm embrace. We hug each other briefly before he pulls away.

"Alright, well, I need to go back to my hotel to get ready and you need to get back to the Pokémon Center to do the same," he states. "What time should I go there to pick you up?"

"The party starts at eight, so seven should be fine."

"Okay, I'll see you later then."

"Okay. See you, Brendan," I say with a smile.

"Goodbye, May," he replies, smiling as well.

After our goodbyes, we both resume our walking in comfortable silence. The sun is slowly disappearing over the horizon, casting a lovely orange glow over the city. Both of us turn our heads in opposite directions to watch it happen.

But as the time that we continue to walk together lengthens, we become aware of each other's company again.

"May?" Brendan beckons as he turns to me with furrowed eyebrows.

My eyebrows are equally as furrowed.

"Yes?" I answer.

"Why are you going this way?"

"The Pokémon Center is this way... Why are you going this way?"

"My hotel is this way...aw, May! Our goodbye was pointless!" he groans.

"It doesn't have to be! How about you go the other direction?" I suggest.

"And take a detour? No thanks. I'll just walk you to the Pokémon Center and come back to get you later."

I laugh and shake my head.

"Alright, Brendan. Whatever you say," I affirm.

He chuckles and throws his arm over my shoulders.

"Let's go, Maybelle," he says.

And then he guides me in the direction of the Pokémon Center.

* * *

The contest after party is the same as all of the others that I have attended. All three judges are present in the Contest Hall's large ballroom along with Vivian, who is continuing her job as an announcer here for the party. The coordinators that participated in today's contest are all scattered about the room, most of them accompanied by their dates. A few other important figures in the coordinating industry are present as well. As always, the after party is a very large social gathering, and the best part about it is that _no paparazzi are allowed_.

Brendan has been fulfilling his duty as my date by staying by my side all night. He sits beside me now at one of the small tables that border the large dance floor. I have to admit that he looks dashing tonight in his all black attire and with his perfectly spiked up hairdo. He casually sips his drink, completely oblivious to all the glances that girls in the room have been casting his way.

"That's the fourteenth one, I believe," I point out eventually.

"Fourteenth one what?" he asks me.

"Fourteenth girl to look your way."

"Oh. I haven't even been paying attention."

"Are you serious? There isn't a single girl in this room who has caught your eye?"

He turns to waggle his eyebrows at me, grinning naughtily.

"You have," he jokes in a low and suggestive tone. "I've been eying you all night."

I chuckle and kick him from underneath the table with the pointed tip of my black heel.

"Shut up, Brendan. I'm being serious," I insist.

"I am being serious! Did I tell you how good you look tonight?"

I roll my eyes as I flip my straight hair over my shoulder, but I suppose I can agree with him to some degree. My sleeveless white dress is very flattering on me, hugging my body in ways that accentuate all of my finer parts. It possesses a conservative jewel neckline, but it slits across the top of my bust area to reveal a sexy sliver of my collarbone. The black trimming above the slit and along the arm holes goes with my black heels, which visually elongate my legs from where the dress ends at the middle of my thighs.

"Okay, fine. I _guess_ I am looking pretty good tonight," I joke with a cheeky grin.

"No, you're looking _hot_. I like your red lipstick, too. It really complements your beautiful blue eyes."

"Alright, now you're pushing it."

Brendan gives a hearty laugh and nods his head a few times.

"Okay, okay, I'll stop," he promises. "In all seriousness though, _one_ girl did catch my eye tonight."

"Really?" I inquire eagerly as I lean forward in anticipation. "Who?"

"Brianna."

"I knew it!" I exclaim with a smug smile. I fall back in my seat and point an accusing finger at him. "I saw you ogling her when she came to say hi earlier!"_  
_

"Could you bring any more attention to us?" Brendan mutters sarcastically as he scowls at me.

"Nobody cares," I insist.

"Are you kidding? At least ten people just looked over at us."

"Was Brianna one of them?" I inquire with a teasing grin.

"No..."

"You should go talk to her."

"Nah," he insists with a wave of his hand.

"Why not?" I press.

"Because I don't think she likes me," he admits while giving a mock pout.

"Brendan, you think that anyone who doesn't laugh at your jokes doesn't like you," I point out with another eye roll.

"Well, that's the only plausible explanation. I'm hilarious!"

"It's hilarious that you think that."

"I appreciate your sarcasm very much, May," he deadpans.

"You're very much welcome, Brendan," I reply.

We both engage in a brief staring contest with one another. When neither of us can keep our faces expressionless anymore, we break out into a fit of laughter that attracts a few pairs of eyes in the room.

"Glad to see you genuinely smiling again, May," Brendan says after his laughter dies down. A caring smile remains on his face as he regards me.

I smile back at my best friend. I should have known that he would have noticed the strain behind my smiles tonight. When we arrived at the Contest Hall earlier for the party, we were met by the paparazzi, who were less than pleasant with their questioning. I tried my best to shake off the dampening that they did to my mood, but when I saw Drew entering the building with a girl on his arm...

To say that I was incredibly hurt would be an understatement. Despite not being with Drew anymore, I couldn't help but feel replaced when I saw the two of them walk in together. Brendan barely got me away in time before the pain flashed across my face. I managed to force a happy smile soon after for everyone to see, but that was exactly how my smiles have been: forced.

"Thank you. I don't know what I'd do without you," I tell him, and meaning every word. "Honestly, I'm so glad you're here."

"I told you that I will always be here for you. I intend on keeping that promise."

Before I can respond to this touching declaration, Alec suddenly appears beside the table. He wears a careful smile on his face, as if he feels guilty for approaching us.

"Hey, May," he greets before turning to Brendan and extending his hand. "Hi, I'm Alec."

"Brendan," Brendan responds as he shakes Alec's hand, a friendly smile on his handsome face.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you two, but I was looking for you," Alec says to me.

"No worries," I respond with a smile to ease him up. "What's up?"

"I was wondering if you would mind letting me have one dance."

I look over at Brendan to see what he thinks of Alec's request. Alec does the same.

The black-haired guy simply shrugs at the both of us. He takes one last sip of his drink before he gets out of his seat.

"You two go ahead and dance. I'm going to go and see if I can convince Brianna to dance with me," he says with a sly smirk. And then he walks off.

Alec turns back to me after Brendan is gone. He grins and offers me his hand.

I take it with a smile and let him lead me to the dance floor.

"By Brianna, did he mean your friend Brianna from the contest?" he asks as he puts his arms around my waist.

My arms go around his neck as I nod my answer. We keep a respectable distance between one another as we sway to the soft melody of the music.

"Ah, so he's interested in her?"

"A little bit, yeah," I confirm.

"Oh, okay. Here I was thinking that you two were together."

"What? No way," I laugh in disbelief. "Brendan and I are practically brother and sister. I wouldn't ever date him."

Alec chuckles at this. "That's a relief. I was debating on whether or not to come over all night."

"So why did you eventually?"

"I figured whatever and that I'd just brave the confrontation. And plus, I wanted to make sure that you weren't mad at me. I couldn't find you after the contest, so I didn't even think that you would come to the party," he admits with an uneasy expression on his face. "You aren't mad at me, right?"

"For beating me at the contest? No," I assure with a grin. "I'm not a sore loser, Alec."

Said guy laughs at this and confidently draws me closer to him.

"Alright then. Now I can enjoy this dance," he says, returning to his cheeky self.

I force myself to relax into Alec's hold in order to enjoy the dance with him. Meanwhile, I try to ignore the fact that Drew is currently dancing with his date just a short distance away from us.

* * *

**Author's Note:** As always, I hope you all enjoyed. Please leave your thoughts in your reviews. Thank you for reading!


	7. Seized Opportunity

Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed this story, and special thanks to **idiot . net **for helping me reach 100 reviews! I couldn't be more happy. Happy reading, everyone! Thank you all so much. :)

**PikaReader:** I would love to write a oneshot or something with Alec and May together, but since Alec is an OC, that would make things difficult. :P Thank you for reading and reviewing!

**FicReader:** Hm, I won't say anything for the sake of not spoiling my story. Thank you for reading and reviewing. :)

**TheDisturbance:** You watch Korean dramas, too?! I just got into them last summer. :D Thank you for reading and reviewing!

**Chipolata:** Poor Drew is getting a lot of anger in this story. It is understandable though. :P Thank you for reading and reviewing!

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing that is affiliated with Pokémon.

* * *

**Chapter 7**

* * *

After dancing to a few songs, Alec and I retire to a table. As we sit and sip our drinks, he shows me a game called Berry Crush on his PokéNav. He goes off on a funny little rant about how he has been stuck on a certain level for several days. But after he gives me a shot at it, I beat it within five minutes. Afterward, he gapes at me in disbelief. I respond with a modest shrug as I move on to the next level for him.

"Hey, you two. What're you up to?" Brianna asks when she suddenly joins us at our table.

"Hey, you're back from dancing with Brendan?" I tease without looking up from Alec's PokéNav.

I hear her snort, so I spare her a glance.

"We _were_ dancing, but then he went off somewhere and never came back," she informs with an eye roll. "Some dancing partner he is."

"Yeah, and some date," I respond with a chuckle. "He's left me alone for nearly fifteen minutes now."

"Hey, why are you saying that as if it's such a bad thing? Am I not good company?" Alec jokingly inserts.

"You're wonderful company, Alec. I would've died in this short period of time without you."

"Is that sarcasm I detect in your voice there, May?"

"Sarcasm?" I repeat with false incredulity. "_No_..."

As all three of us laugh at this, my eyes wander around the room. Most of the party attendees are scattered around the room, socializing amongst themselves and enjoying the provided food and drinks. The dance floor is still occupied by couples, but the amount has lessened. Against my better judgement, I search for the head of green hair that has been completely occupying my mind for the past few days. I don't know if I feel relief or disappointment when I don't find him.

After quickly scanning the room, I realize that he actually isn't even in here anymore. I wonder where he has gone off to until I spot his date standing by one of the drinks tables, being chatted up by some coordinator from today's contest. She is facing in my direction, so I take this moment to discreetly appraise her. With a sense of bitter envy, I note how pretty she is.

Her dark brown eyes glisten like a pair of stars in the dim lighting of the room as she smiles at the guy in front of her. The navy blue minidress that she wears flatters her body in ways that puts mine to shame. Even her straight blonde hair is sleeker and glossier than mine. I grudgingly relent that she and Drew make a very attractive couple. I briefly wonder if they _are_ a couple.

I ponder over the possible headlines that could be captioning the magazine covers tomorrow. Surely the paparazzi had managed to snap photos of the two of them; they certainly got enough of Brendan and me. But with our pictures in their possession, I'm scared to think about the articles that they will be writing to accompany those pictures. The paparazzi are infamous for their absurd stories.

Alec's voice draws me out of my troubling thoughts. He waves a hand in my face, trying for my attention.

"Are you still here?" he jokes when I turn to him.

"Yeah, I am. Sorry," I say with a breathless laugh as my thumbs resume their tapping across Alec's PokéNav screen.

"What's on your mind? You zoned out for a moment there."

I continue to swipe my thumbs across his screen instead of answering him. After maneuvering the berry pieces around in the game a few more times, I successfully beat the level. I slip his device into his hand with a triumphant smile as he gives me another disbelieving look.

"How ridiculously simple your game is, that's all," I lie.

"Beginner's luck," he scoffs while his shoulders slump in defeat.

I force out a little chuckle as I look across the table at Brianna. She looks back at me with calculating eyes and an expression that tells me that she isn't at all convinced by my fib. I press my lips together and slightly shake my head, insisting that now isn't the time to inquire.

"So, are either of you ladies hungry?" Alec asks after he pockets his PokéNav.

"I am," I announce immediately.

It isn't as much of a lie as it is an attempt to take my mind off of things—I _am_ quite hungry. Brianna casts me a questioning look at my eagerness, but I respond with an assuring smile as I swivel out of my chair to follow Alec.

Alec leads me and Brianna over to the nearest food table with the least amount of people. He hands a plate out to the both of us from the stack that sits beside an appealing tub of noodles. I take the offered pair of tongs to load up my plate as Alec heads over to another tub of food.

"You're bothered by Drew and his date, aren't you?" Brianna inquires from beside me in a whisper.

There is an evident hitch in my movement as I reach for more noodles, but I quickly recover and continue. I hope my face doesn't give away how dejected I feel inside.

"I'd being lying to you if I said that I wasn't," I admit, adopting her low tone to prevent eavesdropping.

"Are you worried that they're dating?"

"To be honest, I don't know. I just feel...replaced, if anything."

"I understand you. It's been a while since you've seen him, and then he returns like this."

I can only nod as I gnaw on the inside of my bottom lip.

Brianna tries to lift my mood with some gratifying humor.

"But hey, he downgraded, you know. You're so much prettier than she is," she declares matter-of-factly.

"That's rather sardonic of you, isn't it?" I chuckle as I proceed to fill my plate up some with a bit of salad.

"I'm only speaking the truth, sweetheart. She's got nothing on you. Her ass can't hold a candle to yours."

I temporarily set down everything in my hands to grip the edge of the table. My shoulders shake with the laughter that suddenly ripples through me. I can't help but laugh aloud at the redhead's words.

"Yay! I got you to laugh!" Brianna declares proudly with a laugh of her own.

"What would I do without you, Brianna?" I ask rhetorically.

"Live a very difficult life," she proclaims with a wide grin. Then, it tones down and she says, "I'm going to head over to the desserts and grab some cake. Do you want anything?"

"Some razz berry crumble would be nice. I'm going to head back to the table now, though. Can you tell Alec to meet me back there?"

"Sure. I'll be right back."

After Brianna walks away, I grab myself a fork and walk back to the table. I feel a bit awkward sitting alone, so I focus entirely on the food on my plate. I hope that Alec and Brianna will come back soon.

I feel someone touch my elbow as I stuff another forkful of noodles into my mouth. I turn to find Brendan easing himself into the chair beside mine.

"Hey, where were you?" I ask him, disregarding the fact that my mouth is slightly full. "Brianna and I were looking for you."

"I went off to do something that I felt I needed to do. If I tell you, you have to promise that you won't get angry at me," he says.

I do as he asks while slowly chewing the morsel of noodles left in my mouth. I watch him as I brace myself for his next words.

"I went to talk to Drew."

I blink once, trying to decide if I had heard him correctly or not.

"You did what?" I ask dumbly.

Brendan sighs and repeats what he says.

My heart skips a beat and I stare at him, my mouth slightly agape. All feeling leaves me and for a moment, I nearly forget how to talk.

"About what?" I manage to force out, even though I probably know the answer.

"About you," Brendan affirms, confirming my suspicion.

My fork falls out of my hand and clatters onto the table, startling Brendan and a few others around us. I flash them all apologetic glances before turning back to Brendan.

Feeling creeps back into me in the form of agitation as I look at the seriousness in his face. He isn't kidding. He actually went behind my back and spoke to Drew.

"Brendan, why would you do that?" I demand, the agitation creeping into my tone and onto my face.

"You needed to talk to him, but you were scared because you thought that he hated you, right? So I went to find out if he did."

"And what did he say?"

"He said that he has nothing against you—at all. And when I told him that you had a lot of questions about him, he said that he would answer them for you," Brendan informs. "In fact, he even said that he'd like to talk to you when you're ready."

My breath hitches for a moment after I hear this. I lean forward in my seat, my arms crossed in front of me to support my weight. My ankles cross underneath the table as agitation leaves me and anxiety takes its place.

I keep my eyes fixed on the table to avoid looking around in fear that I'll see Drew. One would think that I would be so eager to seek him out now that I know that he doesn't hate me, but I'm not. I'm still worried about the possible outcomes if I were to confront him. I don't even know if I'll be able to do it now. I don't think I have the courage to face him yet.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Brendan presses.

"I don't know," I mutter defeatedly as I look off to the side.

When I see Alec and Brianna approaching, I change the subject.

* * *

I wave goodbye to Brendan from outside of his car. He has just dropped me off at the Pokémon Center, half an hour before the end of the party. I had told him that I wanted to leave early, offering the excuse that I was feeling ill. Truthfully, I just didn't want to be in the same room as Drew until I was ready to face him; I had avoided him for the rest of the party. Brendan had obviously known and didn't buy my excuse, but he had respected my wishes and left with me.

During the car ride, I had avoided discussing the situation with Drew because even the mere mentioning of his name bothered me. Brendan seemed to have noticed this and kindly obliged by continuing conversations with me that steered away from that topic. It was not until we had pulled up to the Pokémon Center that he brought up Drew again, but only to offer me words of encouragement and support. As he drives away now, I find myself thankful once again for having such a best friend.

I enter the lobby of the Pokémon Center to find a small amount of people scattered around it. A few are sitting in the couches that the building provides, while others are standing in lines to either check in their pokémon or themselves. I smile to those who look over in my direction as I make my way over to the nearest elevator to take me to the second floor, where my room is.

A familiar man is already waiting at the elevator when I arrive at it. I recognize him from the airplane flight a few days ago, and from the way that he smiles at me, I can tell that he recognizes me, too. He sips from a cup of something hot in his hand and enters the elevator with me.

"Good evening, dear," he greets. "Which floor?"

I return his greeting and tell him the appropriate floor number before politely asking him how he is doing.

"I'm doing well. Just heading back to my room after getting coffee from the cafeteria."

"Coffee at this hour?"

"I have a book that I'm currently working on. I'd like to finish the chapter tonight before I lose my inspiration," he tells me with a smile. Then, his eyebrows furrow as he studies my face. "Is something troubling you?"

I involuntarily shift my weight from one foot to the other, confirming his suspicion. With this giveaway, I see no point in denying it. I nod once and give him a timid smile.

"Is there anything that I can help you with?"

I hesitate for a moment, wringing my hands together in front of me. I debate on whether or not I should tell him the truth, but after remembering how affable he was on the plane, I figure that I can.

"Um, there's someone that I need to talk to, but I'm afraid to. We haven't talked in a while, so I'm just wondering if I should even say anything to him," I admit, struggling a little in between words. "I'm...afraid of the outcome."

"Ah, may I offer some words of advice then?"

"That would be nice, thank you."

"You shouldn't fret over the possible repercussions—just act," he tells me. "Opportunities don't usually come twice, so you should seize yours now while you have the chance."

"But what should I even say to him? What is he even going to say to me?"

"You shouldn't plan your conversation. Chances are the conversation will likely not go your way. And when it doesn't go according to how you planned it, it's just going to throw you off. You'll lose your confidence and the conversation will automatically end badly."

The elevator stops and opens its doors to reveal the second floor.

"I suppose you're right," I say with a thankful smile in his direction as I exit the elevator. "Thank you for talking with me."

"You're welcome, dear. Have a good night, and good luck when you do talk to your friend," he bids.

I wish him the same on his book and turn away to go to my room, where I relieve myself of my stress in a nice, hot shower before climbing into bed.

* * *

The sun is just rising above the horizon when I wake up at dawn for my daily morning jog. I get changed into my running gear and pull my hair up into a ponytail to get it out of my face. After slipping my PokéNav into the pocket of my track jacket, I head out of my room to the elevator, which I take back down to the lobby. Barely anyone is awake at this time save for Nurse Joy and a few people who are staying at the building. Once again, I smile at those who look over at me as I head out of the building.

The city is cast in a warm, golden glow from the rising sun. I swing my arms out from behind me as I inhale the fresh morning air, stretching myself free of the stiffness that I still feel from sleeping. As I do so, my eyes wander around until they fall on a guy standing just a short distance away from me. I stop swinging my arms and stare, dumbfounded at the sight of Drew.

My heart palpitates in my chest as I stare at him. His back is to me so I have the option of either avoiding him or calling his name. I almost consider heading back into the Pokémon Center, but then I think back to the words of the kind man from last night. He was right—opportunities don't usually come twice. Brendan helped me get this opportunity. I have to use it.

So I throw away my cautions and find my voice.

"Hey, Drew," I say, sounding a lot more confident than I actually am.

He instantly turns around to face me.

"Hey," he responds in an even tone.

To anyone, it would seem that he is very nonchalant. But to me, it is clear that he is feeling uneasy. I can see it in his smoldering green eyes; they always betrayed his emotions. Just by looking into them, I can feel my perseverance waning.

"Could we talk?" I manage to ask.

"I was hoping you'd go on your daily morning jog for that purpose."

My stomach flutters at this. "You still remember?"

"I remember a lot of things, May."

"Right," I say, ignoring the effect that his words have on me and walking past him. "Let's get going then."

He simply nods in response and goes to follow me.

And then we begin our jog.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Who was waiting for that interaction between Drew and May? I hope this didn't disappoint. ;) I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and will review. Thank you all for reading. :)

P.S. Please tell me that I'm not the only one who is ridiculously addicted to Candy Crush. Does anybody else find it severely irritating at times? xD


	8. Meaningful Discussion

Unfortunately, I was having another overwhelmingly busy week again and didn't have much time to write. Thus explains the short length of this chapter, but the next one will be considerably longer though, so please bear with me until next weekend. Happy reading to you all and I hope you still enjoy. :)

**FicReader:** Exactly. It's those little snippets that really manage to warm your heart. I would know from experience. :) Ah, shall I share my ramen noodles with you then? I'm eating them now as I'm typing this response. ;) Thank you for reading and reviewing!

**Chipolata:** It's completely understandable. Everyone gets nervous before a confrontation with someone as significant as an ex-boyfriend. :P Thank you for reading and reviewing!

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing that is affiliated with Pokémon.

* * *

**Chapter 8**

* * *

It is quiet in the city at this early hour. No stores are open and very few people are even awake yet. I suppose this is the reason why that, no matter where I am, I enjoy having my morning jogs immediately after dawn. There is something about the tranquil atmosphere that solitude brings that always manages to put me in a calm state. I get to enjoy this peace during the daily hour that I'm completely alone. I don't even have to worry about the paparazzi.

But today I have company, which completely deprives me of the relaxation that I seek. Drew jogs alongside of me, keeping pace as we move ahead in silence.

I don't know about him but I find the absence of words to be incredibly unnerving. There is no small talk or meaningful discussion, just the sound of our uneven breathing and our feet hitting the ground. I know that I should be saying something, but I can't bring myself to do so.

As we continue jogging, I repeatedly try to convince myself that I should open my mouth. However, every time that I get close, my courage fails me and I end up backing out. I struggle with myself a few times until I finally manage to utter the first words.

"Would you mind stopping at that fountain to talk?" I request, while nodding my head over in the direction of the structure.

"No, I wouldn't mind. Let's go," he agrees in the same even tone that he had used outside of the Pokémon Center.

No words are spoken by either of us before we arrive at the fountain. We sit down on the edge of the structure with a reasonable space in between us that is comfortable but doesn't promote hostility.

"What's on your mind?" Drew inquires after we are situated.

"I have a few questions that I'd like to ask you, that's all," I tell him softly to keep my voice from wavering.

"Alright. What are they?"

I can't help but notice the formal air of our conversation, and I find myself despising it. I briefly wonder how he is doing this—speak to me so calmly as if he doesn't feel the least bit nervous. As if he has no reservations at all.

But then again, he has always been very collected and confident. I don't think I have ever seen him as anything but...except on the day that he confessed his feelings for me.

I quickly drive those memories away before they can fully enter my mind.

"Well, we haven't talked in almost two years," I state. "I just wanted to know why that was. Did you stop talking to me because you hated me?" I swallow before adding, "Or _hate_ me, present tense."

"No. I didn't hate you then and I don't hate you now," he asserts, his expression reinforcing the sincerity of his words. "I had my reasons for why I stopped talking to you."

"Were those the same reasons why you stopped coordinating for a while?"

Drew nods as he slowly leans forward to rest his elbows on his knees. He clasps his hands together in front of him and stares off into the distance.

"I was dealing with some personal issues that I wasn't too proud of. I didn't want to face anyone, so I simply got myself away from everyone and everything. It was a cowardly move, but I needed to focus entirely on the problems. Doing it alone seemed like the best choice," he explains.

There is a tug inside of me and I suddenly feel pity for him. I wonder what the nature of those problems were if he felt that he needed to combat them alone. He seems to be avoiding giving details though, so I don't ask for them.

As I'm debating on what to say next, he turns to me.

"What about you?" he asks. "I could ask you the same question. I thought you hated me."

I pull my legs up onto the fountain edge to sit pretzel style. His eyes are too intense for me to stare at, so I only meet them briefly as I begin to speak.

"I never hated you," I confirm. "Although initially, I was very angry at you. I did understand that you'd wanted time to yourself, but you never specified how much. I kept waiting for you to contact me, thinking that you would do it when you were ready, except you never did and I just got tired of waiting." I look at his eyes for a second again. "The anger eventually went away, though. I just didn't want to contact you because I figured it'd be best to just try and forget about you."

Something flashes across Drew's face, but he quickly masks it before I can decide what it was.

"Did my absence make that easier for you?" he asks with a humorless smile.

"Considerably, yes," I respond, giving him one right back.

"How about when you saw me again at the Pokémon Center three days ago?"

I suddenly find the ground very interesting. A dozen possible answers run through my mind, but I settle for a refined version of the truth.

"I was conflicted to be honest. I hadn't expected to see you there, so I didn't know what to do," I admit. "But then you ignored me, so I just kept walking."

"Hey, you ignored me, too," he protests with a laugh, trying to lighten the mood.

"But that's only because you ignored me first," I laugh back, feeling more at ease at the sound of his laughter.

"Alright, I'll give you that," he concedes, wearing a small smile as he glances at the ground. Then, he grows more serious and returns his gaze to my eyes. "Would you have said anything to me eventually if Brendan hadn't?"

My own smile drops from my face as I ponder over this answer.

"I'd like to think that I would have eventually," I say in a moderately convincing tone.

"I wasn't being very inviting, was I?"

I glance over at him and shake my head, wearing a small smile again.

He elicits a humorless chuckle, but then becomes serious again.

"I'm sorry about that," he says. "And for anything else that I've done that may have offended you. I should have handled things differently."

"It's okay. We both could have handled things differently," I respond. "I'm sorry, too."

We share a smile with each other after that. For the first time since seeing him again, I feel very warm and comfortable in his presence. I think back to how things were before the fallout and decide that this is very much how they felt like.

"Do you want to head back to the Pokémon Center now? We can avoid the paparazzi if we do," he offers.

I agree to his sentiment and get up from the fountain. The time is still rather early and barely anyone is out still, but the sun is completely up now. The paparazzi will undoubtedly be coming out for work very soon. I don't want to stick around in public to run into them.

The walk back to the Pokémon Center is very simple and easy. Drew and I engage in a casual conversation, catching each other up on our lives. I tell him about the birth of Matt and he tells me how he remembers how excited I was to become an older sister again. He congratulates me and I thank him before congratulating him on his victory at the contest. He thanks me, and the conversation goes on.

We don't talk about the problems that he had to handle, though. He doesn't bring them up, so I don't ask about them. I _am_ curious, but perhaps now isn't the time. Perhaps he doesn't trust me enough anymore to tell me.

I can't help feeling upset over this possibility, but I remind myself that we have spent nearly two years apart. His trust in me has most likely waned, just like mine has in him. Depending on the severity, there would be things that I would want to keep from him, too.

We also don't talk about any new significant people in our lives. Quite frankly, I'm glad because I don't want to hear about any of the girls that he has possibly replaced me with. I've gone on a couple of dates since our breakup, but I haven't officially dated anyone after him. I doubt that he wants to hear about those guys either.

The outside of the Pokémon Center is completely free of any reporters when we arrive, much to our delight. We enter the building with no interruptions and ignore the pairs of eyes that are watching us. I hear whispers break out amongst many of the people who are currently in the lobby but I do my best to ignore those, too.

"Would you like to go to the café with me for a cup of coffee?" Drew asks.

"Sure. I'm just going to check up on my pokémon with Nurse Joy," I say. "I'll meet you there, okay?"

Drew nods and smiles before walking off in the direction of the food court. A few girls giggle and follow him with their eyes, clearly fans of him. I chuckle internally at this and head over to Nurse Joy, who is sitting behind the counter at the healing station.

"Ah, hello, May," she greets upon seeing me, wearing a friendly smile. "What can I do for you this morning?"

"Good morning. I was just wondering how my pokémon are doing," I tell her.

"All three of them are fully rested up. They're ready to be discharged if you'd like to take them back."

"That would be great, thank you. I'll take them."

After typing some information into her computer, Nurse Joy goes into the back PokéBall room, which is hidden from public view. A short wait later, she comes back out with a tray that holds my three PokéBalls. I take them from her and go through the check-out process. Then, I thank her and walk over to the nearest unoccupied PC, which I use to call Professor Birch. I transfer over Glaceon's and Venusaur's PokéBalls to put them in his care, leaving only Blaziken in my possession. When that is all done, I finally head down to the café.

I enter the quaint little establishment in the Pokémon Center food court and spot Drew sitting at a booth in the far right corner. He greets me with a friendly smile when I slide into the seat in front of him.

"Hey, sorry for the wait. I wanted to transfer some pokémon to Professor Birch while I was there," I explain.

"No problem. I ordered for you while you were gone," he insists and pushes a cup of coffee toward me. "Just one cube of sugar, right?"

Just like earlier, I feel my stomach flutter at the realization that he remembers another thing about me. A small smile makes its way onto my face as I take the cup of coffee from him.

"Yeah. You remember that, too?" I inquire as I give the coffee a stir before taking a sip.

Drew nods, smiling as well. "As I said, I remember a lot of things."

"I remember how you used to grimace whenever I would only put in one cube."

"I hope you know that I'm actually trying _not_ to grimace right now as I watch you drink that."

"Um, less sugar is actually healthier for you. You should give it a shot someday."

"I remember when you convinced me to do that one day. I vowed never to let you do it again."

I pretend to gasp as if insulted, but when I break out into laughter, he knows that I was joking and joins in.

The two baristas behind the counter and the few people who are sitting in the café look over at us. As to be expected, they begin to whisper amongst themselves, obviously intrigued by our interaction with each other. This probably looks very much like a date to them. I suppose we will probably be making some headlines tomorrow.

As for what possible words will be written along with those headlines, I don't think about them at all right now. The teasing banter between Drew and I is another great reminder of the good days, and I want to enjoy every minute of it.

Drew dismisses himself after we leave the café, claiming that he has some personal matters to attend to. I don't mind considering the fact that I had plans for the day anyway. He offers to walk me to the elevator so that I can go to my room to get some things, and I accept.

When we arrive at the elevator, I get a surprise before the doors open.

"Hey, May?" comes Drew's voice from beside me.

I turn my head to look at him.

"Yeah?" I inquire, cocking an eyebrow.

"Would you be willing to accept a hug from me?"

For a second, I forget how to breathe as this request sends my heart racing. I hope that my face isn't showing how flustered I feel. I bring myself to smile and nod.

He returns my smile and takes me into his arms.

I instantly melt into them, reveling in the feeling of his embrace and inhaling his appealing scent. They are both exactly how I remember them, and it is at this moment that I realize just how much I have missed them.

How much I have missed him.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Aww, a hug. How sweet. :') Did you all enjoy the interaction between Drew and May? If so, then you know what to do. ;) Thank you for reading!


	9. Rainy Contretemps

I did promise a longer chapter, didn't I? :) Happy reading, everyone!

**Chipolata:** Haha! What kind of expression would you like for him to have? ;D I'm glad you're starting to like Drew again. I hope I don't change your mind, though. o.O Thank you for reading and reviewing!

**FicReader:** One bowl of pork ramen coming right up! And oh yes, I can, too—I know the feeling exactly. :p Thank you for reading and reviewing!

**Guest:** You're welcome! Thank _you_ so much for reading and reviewing. :D

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing that is affiliated with Pokémon.

* * *

**Chapter 9**

* * *

Rain falls down from the grey clouds above Rustboro City. Cars drive by and splash the sidewalks with the water from the puddles on the streets. Occasionally, the rumble of thunder can be heard in the distance.

I watch all of this from a window beside my booth in the Pokémon Center's café. A book lays open in front of me with my steaming cup of mocha sitting beside it. I burrow myself deeper into my thick cardigan and pull my legs up further against my chest as I reach to turn the page.

"Mind if I join you?" a gentle voice asks.

I make a quick mental note of where I am about to leave off in my book before I glance up. To my surprise, I find Drew's date from the after party standing at the end of my table. She carries a tray with her breakfast in her hands and wears a sheepish expression on her face.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you, but everywhere else is full," she says hesitantly.

My eyes quickly scan the café to see if she is telling the truth. When I see that she is, I clear the table to allow her some space and gesture toward the seat across from me, smiling to accept her request. She mutters her thanks and slides into the empty seat.

"Hi, I'm Olivia," she introduces with a friendly smile. "You're Maybelle Maple, right?"

"Yes, but everyone calls me May. Nice to meet you," I respond.

"I think I remember seeing you at the after party for the contest two days ago. You were there, right?"

I nod.

"I was hoping you were so that this would be less awkward," she laughs, the sound delicate just like her appearance. "Maybe you remember seeing me, too. I was there with Drew."

From the tone of her voice, I can't help but feel as if she is saying this as a reminder to me. I force out a smile to feign indifference as I sit up a little straighter in my seat.

"I don't really remember much from that night, but I might have saw you there," I respond as I reach for my drink, wishing that she would stop talking to me so that I can continue reading my book in peace.

Her eyes fleet over to my hand.

"Here, let me help you," she hastily insists, her hand flying out to intercept mine.

But her hand ends up knocking over my drink instead. I barely leap out of the way in time before my mocha is sent spilling over the edge of the table and onto my seat.

"Oh my Arceus, I'm so sorry!" she exclaims, her eyes widening but her face not looking the least bit apologetic. "Are you alright?"

I take a napkin from the dispenser on the table and dab at the splatter of mocha that managed to land on my jeans. Luckily, the dark material makes the stain less noticeable, so I reach for a few more napkins to clean up the mess on the table.

"It's alright," I insist, trying to keep the chagrin out of my voice and off my face.

"I totally didn't mean to do that! I'm so sorry. It was a complete accident."

I quickly bite back the first retort that comes to mind. Somehow, I doubt that this incident was truly an "accident" on her part. But I simply continue to clean up the spill on the table, noting with dismay that my book is completely ruined. I grimly wipe off the mocha from the front and back covers.

Olivia's eyes twinkle with mirth as she leisurely grabs some napkins with one hand to help me out. Once the spill is completely cleaned up, I gather up the dirty napkins to toss into the nearest trash can.

"It's okay. I'm just going to leave now, though," I tell her after I come back.

"Oh, so soon? It's not because of me, is it?" the blonde inquires, her eyes widening with exaggerated innocence.

"No, of course not. I've actually been here a while and I have things to do, so I need to get going," I insist as convincingly as possible. "I'll see you around."

I pick up my soiled book and begin to walk away, but I only manage to walk a few steps away until Olivia calls to me. I turn my head to look at her, appearing as nonchalant as possible.

"Hey, May? I really am sorry," she says, wearing a small triumphant grin.

I force myself to give her a careless smile.

"It's okay. It was only an accident, right?" I reply, and then I walk out of the café.

The food court is especially bustling with people today because many have opted to stay indoors instead of venturing out into the rain. As I walk, I access the damage that has been done to my book and determine that it is beyond repair. With a click of my tongue, I toss it into the last trash can that I pass before I emerge into the lobby. I guess I'll have to go get a new copy now before I forget where I had left off.

"Why the face?" someone suddenly asks me.

I turn, startled by the sound of Drew's voice, and see him coming up beside me. I furrow my eyebrows at him as I demand what face he's talking about.

His facial features rearrange into what I assume to be an imitation of my current expression.

"This one," he clarifies.

I scoff at him and shake my head, a small smile playing on my lips.

"I'm not making that face," I insist, even though I probably am.

"Well, not anymore. You sure were before."

I continue to resist his accusation to avoid having to admit that he's right. But he obviously sees right through me since he gives me one of his teasing smirks. He does humor me and changes the topic, though.

"So, what're you up to this afternoon?" he asks.

"I'm just heading to the bookstore. What about you?"

"You never did mind the rain," he states, a grin on his face. "Mind if I join you? I have nothing better to do."

"Why sure, Drew, since you asked so nicely."

I chuckle as he laughs at my sarcasm. I can feel my agitation ebbing as we walk towards the front doors. We pass by an umbrella stand, so I grab one. I don't mind the rain (Drew was right) but I'm not too keen on getting soaked, either.

We are almost out of the doors when I nearly collide with someone who is walking in.

"Oh, hi there!" I greet merrily when I recognize the man from the plane.

"Hello, dear," he greets back, a friendly smile on his face. But then, it drops when his eyes move to the guy beside me. "Good afternoon, Drew."

I hear a deep intake of breath from the guy standing beside me before he says in a clipped tone, "Hello."

"You guys know each other?" I ask curiously.

"Yes, we do," the man answers. "He's my son."

"I'm no son of yours," Drew bites out so venomously that he almost snarls.

The man frowns. "Is that the way to speak to your father?"

"You know as well as I do that you are _not my father._"

My eyes flicker between the two of them, widening a little more each time. Never in all the years that I've known Drew have I ever heard him talk about his father; he has only ever briefly mentioned him in passing.

I don't know why it had never occurred to me before that the man from the plane could be Drew's father. Now as I look between the two men, I instantly notice the resemblance. The green hair, the green eyes, the stern expression—they are nearly identical for both men. Drew probably takes after his mother for the rest.

But I wouldn't know. He has never talked about her, either.

And yet I wonder why Drew continues to deny the fact that this man is his father. The tension is so thick in the air at this moment that none of us says anything. Drew looks too angry to speak. His father seems too hurt to speak. I'm just too anxious to speak.

Someone suddenly walks through the doors, knocking into Drew's father in the process. He quickly glances at all of us and mutters a hurried apology before darting away. I didn't even get a chance to look at his face.

Drew's father blinks a few times after the strange guy, startled over the exchange. But then he organizes himself and returns his gaze to us.

"Well then, I should be going now. I have a flight to catch in an hour. I was just going to get my bags," Drew's father says, breaking the spell around us.

His calm voice fails to distract from the pain in his eyes and I don't think he has ever looked older then in this current state of dejection. He looks over at me, offers me a forced smile, and says goodbye before turning back to his son.

"Goodbye, Drew," he mutters.

When he gets no response, he simply clears his throat and walks past us.

My mouth slightly hangs open in awe over the whole encounter. I glance at Drew and see that he looks incredibly angry, so angry that it makes me apprehensive to talk to him.

"What was all of that?" I ask hesitantly.

"Nothing," he insists in a voice that reflects the anger on his face. He doesn't even look at me; he just stares furiously ahead.

"It didn't look like nothing."

"Then it was nothing that I want to explain, alright?" he snaps, finally turning to look at me.

I flinch at the decibel of his voice. In this moment, I know that his anger has been directed at me and I don't like it one bit. I can feel myself getting defensive and try to utter a response, but he beats me to it.

"I gotta go. I'm not feeling too well," he says abruptly, clearly trying to suppress his anger.

Without saying goodbye, he turns and storms back into the Pokémon Center.

I stare after him, temporarily paralyzed by the sting and humiliation from his sudden departure. A few people inside of the Pokémon Center are gaping at me, waiting for my reaction. I keep my face impassive and simply turn on my heel to head to the bookstore.

My emotions are a jumbled mess as I browse through the sections of books. Drew's outburst left me both afflicted and embarrassed, and even a little irritated. But above all, it left me very confused and disappointed. It has been less than a day since we talked to each other for the first time after our split and we have already encountered a conflict.

Perhaps if I knew the story behind his relationship with his father, I wouldn't be feeling this way. But he clearly wasn't too willing to divulge any details with me given his reaction earlier. Maybe it has something to do with the "personal issues" that he spoke of yesterday, but his reticence didn't provide me with any helpful clues. This dilemma is all so baffling and intriguing, but I know absolutely nothing about it.

"Is that May Maple?" a voice inquires, snapping me out of my daze.

I peer through the crack above the row of books that I'm looking at to find Alec staring at me. When we make eye contact, a goofy grin spreads across his lips.

"I thought that was you. I haven't seen you in nearly three days," he says humorously.

I let out a laugh and greet him as I continue to walk along the bookcases. He mirrors my steps on the other side of them.

"What're you doing here?"

"Just trying to find a book."

"You actually read? What a nerd," he jokes.

"Yes, I actually read. Excuse me for wanting to expand my vocabulary and broaden my intellect," I retort, rolling my eyes. "What're _you_ doing here then?"

"Looking for a book and avoiding the rain."

"Oh, and _I'm_ a nerd for reading? What does that make you then?"

"A cooler nerd than you."

We finally meet at the end of the bookcases. I stare up at him, my expression amused at his ridiculous response, before I shake my head and walk away. He chuckles and proceeds to follow me around the bookstore, trying to find his desired book and helping me to find mine. The conversation that he continues with me helps to take my mind off of Drew and makes our time at the bookstore quite enjoyable.

After finding our books, Alec and I head over to the cashier counter to pay for them. He stands beside me to wait for my purchase after making his and tells me a funny childhood story.

"So, this one time when I was a kid, I was playing hide-and-seek with my brother and sister in our front yard. As our brother was counting down, my sister suggested that we hide in our parents' car," he says. "Well, she clambered in before me and started to rush me into it after her after she saw me struggling. But I guess she just got too excited or impatient because next thing I knew, she pulled the car door shut right on my head."

The girl working at the cashier register bursts into a fit of giggles before she can catch herself. She tries to smother her smile as she hands me a bag with my book, her cheeks growing pink with embarrassment. I accept it and try to thank her through my own giggles.

"Was that funny to you?" Alec asks, laughing himself as he waves goodbye to the cashier and walks away with me.

"I'm suppressing my laughter now as we speak," I snicker.

"What about you? Do you have any funny childhood stories?"

"There's one. It was more traumatizing than funny, though."

"Well, let's hear it."

"One time when I was younger, my family and I went to the beach. I was swimming in the ocean, having fun and frolicking about, when I was suddenly surrounded by a school of tentacool. I got scared and immediately called to my parents for help, but I didn't really get the help that I had in mind," I recall. "My mom mistook me for a tentacool because of the swimmer's cap that I had on and she tried to catch me with a PokéBall..."

Alec immediately cracks up as he pushes open the door of the bookstore. He holds it out for me and I walk through it, laughing at the memory as well.

"That is so great," he chuckles, but then he frowns as he stares up at the sky. "Oh, it's still raining."

It isn't until I hear his words that I realize that I don't have my umbrella anymore. I must have left it somewhere in the bookstore but quite frankly, I don't feel like going back in to get it.

"Where are you headed?" I ask him.

"The Pokémon Center."

"Same here. Do you want to just run to it? It's barely two minutes away."

"Eh, why not? Lemme tuck your book into my jacket, though, so it doesn't get wet."

And that's that. Less than two minutes later, Alec and I stumble back into the Pokémon Center, laughing merrily. Both of us are completely soaked, but at least he managed to keep my book dry.

"Do you want to have dinner with me later?" he asks. "I haven't eaten all day."

"Sure. Just let me go shower and change into some dry clothes first though, okay?" I respond as I pry my wet hair away from my face.

Alec agrees and we part ways with each other temporarily.

When I get back to my room, I strip myself of my wet clothes and head into the bathroom to take a shower. The hot water feels great against my cold skin and the sound of it relaxes me. I probably spend more time in the shower than I had intended to because by the time I get out, the light outside is completely gone. After getting dressed, I curiously head over to the window to try to see whether or not it is still raining.

But to my surprise, I don't see raindrops. I see what seems to be a steel wall instead.

My eyebrows furrow but before I can process another thought, I hear a scream from outside my room. Startled, I immediately grab my blaziken's PokéBall from my cardigan on the ground before creeping to the door. I take one deep breath to steady myself before pulling it open and duck my head out to survey the hallway.

My breath catches in my throat when I spot a large mightyena at the end of the hallway. It is standing over a fallen figure, looking like it's about to sink its teeth into the person at any second. I stand petrified for a moment before I quickly decide on what to do.

My decision is about as noble as it is stupid.

"Hey!" I call to the beast.

The pokémon visibly flinches at the sound of my voice. It slowly raises its head to meet my eyes with its pupil-less ones. A low growl rumbles in its chest before a snarl rips from its bared fangs.

And then it lunges toward me.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Olivia's such a lovely girl, don't you think? And what a nice mightyena...but of course, I'm laying it on thick with the sarcasm. ;P Thank you all for reading! Reviews are as appreciated as always. :)

P.S. The event that May told Alec about actually did happen to her in the anime. Harley tricked Max into telling him the story in the episode _A Cacturne for the Worse _so that he could record it and use it to embarrass May into losing the contest. Typical ol' Harley, huh? :P


	10. More Than One

Thank you to all who read and reviewed last chapter! Happy reading with this one. :)

**FicReader:** I give no promises that I'll be able to do this, but I'll see if I can somehow incorporate a cameo or two for him. :) Thank you for reading and reviewing!

**Chipolata:** Mhm, that's Drew for ya. -_- Thank you for reading and reviewing!

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing that is affiliated with Pokémon. Every pokémon in this chapter is capable of the moves that it uses as proven by the information provided on Serebii.

* * *

**Chapter 10**

* * *

The mightyena bounds towards me and I fall against the doorframe with a gasp. I hastily fumble to enlarge my PokéBall to send out my blaziken. She materializes in front of me and immediately readies herself for battle.

"Flamethrower!" I command of her.

Blaziken unleashes a tunnel of flames from her beak just in time to ward off the approaching mightyena. The dark-type retreats a few steps, snarling as it does so, before opening its snout to fire a Flamethrower of its own.

My mouth falls open in shock at this. Mightyena aren't capable of learning Flamethrower. This one must have used Mimic.

Blaziken intercepts the Flamethrower with a Hyper Beam. The two attacks meet and the collision causes smoke to erupt, completely obscuring the mightyena from sight. I clutch the doorframe as I warily glare into the black cloud. Blaziken shifts to form a protective stance in front of me as she waits for Mightyena's next move.

A brief moment later, Mightyena leaps out from the smoke. Its teeth are bared and shrouded in electricity, and I recognize this to be a Thunder Fang attack.

Blaziken immediately runs up and grabs a hold of Mightyena's snout, clamping it shut. Then, she twists herself into the pokémon and rams her elbow into its throat. It yelps as it pulls its snout free from Blaziken's grasp but before it can consider another attack, Blaziken slams a Blaze Kick into its face.

It isn't until this direct combat that I notice the unusual size difference between the two pokémon. Blaziken stands at around six feet tall, which always makes her taller than the average mightyena, which typically only grows to a little over three feet. But this mightyena is practically the same height as Blaziken, and possesses a build that is far more impressive than any average mightyena.

As if its pupil-less eyes weren't strange enough.

The mightyena continues to launch attacks at Blaziken, who efficiently counters each attack with her own. She seems to be holding up fine right now, but I worry that she will eventually tire out if this battle keeps up. Mightyena apparently has a relentless stamina; it doesn't seem to be wearing out at all.

If only I still had venusaur with me. Sleep Powder would be a great asset to have right now.

A new idea suddenly occurs to me after observing that Mightyena is only attacking with its mouth. If I have Blaziken incapacitate it, it may just give Blaziken a chance to knock it out.

"Blaziken!" I call. "Aim a Sky Uppercut at its snout!"

Blaziken does as told and socks Mightyena in the jaw. Its head snaps back, revealing the entire length of its neck, and I command Blaziken to land a Thunderpunch directly on its throat. The dark-type pokémon lets out a gagging sound as electricity sweeps across its fur, paralyzing it, and I use this moment to command a Seismic Toss. Blaziken lifts her opponent up into the air with immense strength and sends it flying to the end of the hallway, where it smashes against a wall and falls to the ground. It doesn't move at all after that.

"Good job, Blaziken," I murmur as I slowly push myself off of the doorframe.

Blaziken grunts in response and follows me as I gingerly step toward the person at the end of the hallway, who still lies in an unconscious heap. My eyes occasionally flicker over to the mightyena to make sure that it won't suddenly attack me as I approach its former victim. Once I reach the person, I crouch down so that I can try to stir her awake. When I move her blonde hair away from her face, I am horrified to find that the girl is Olivia.

"Olivia?" I gasp. "Olivia! Are you okay?"

The blonde doesn't respond, so I hurriedly check for a pulse. To my tremendous relief, it is still there; she must have just fainted out of fright.

I think about what to do with her now. I could have Blaziken carry her down to the lobby now to get some help, but what if there are other pokémon like the mightyena lurking around? Blaziken couldn't possibly fight them if she were carrying Olivia. But I can't leave Olivia alone here either.

"Blaziken, could you help me carry her to my room?" I request, unable to think of any other solution.

Blaziken carefully lifts Olivia into her arms in response and backtracks down the hall, her eyes never leaving Mightyena. I follow closely until we enter my room, where I help Blaziken place Olivia on my bed. After tucking her into the covers, I grab my fanny pack, which contains all of my necessities, and hurry out with Blaziken, making sure to close the door behind us to keep Olivia protected from any other predators.

And then there remains Mightyena, who is still unconscious on the floor. I reach into my fanny pack and finger a PokéBall, debating on whether or not I should try to catch it. I can't leave it lying around here to wake up and roam the building.

With that thought in mind, I toss one of my spare PokéBalls at it. The sphere opens up and releases a red aura that engulfs the large mightyena and sucks it in. The PokéBall closes and falls to the ground, where it wriggles on its axis a few times. After the button stops glowing red, signifying the successful capture, I go to pick up the PokéBall and put it into a special pocket of my fanny pack.

"Alright, Blaziken. We should head down to the lobby now," I mutter. "Elevator or stairs?"

Blaziken grunts toward the elevator. I nod without protest.

Thankfully, the wait for and ride on the elevator go by smoothly. Blaziken and I arrive safely at the first floor, but she doesn't ease herself from her defensive stance even as we emerge into the Pokémon Center lobby.

A line of people are standing at the healing station. I take note of their fearful expressions and wonder just how many of them have been put through as shocking of an experience as I had just been.

"Give me back my pokémon! I don't want to be in here without their protection!" I hear the woman at the front demand.

Another person echoes her sentiment, and then another. Pretty soon, the whole line erupts in similar demands.

"Everyone, please calm down!" Nurse Joy pleads, her usual friendly face now plagued by stress. "My cousins and I are working to gather all of your pokémon and return them to you! We understand that you are all concerned by the current circumstances, but please be patient!"

"_Patient_? Are you kidding me?" the woman at the front screeches. "The whole building has just been quarantined because there's apparently a pokémon running around with some unknown virus! What are we supposed to be patient for? Our impending doom?"

"Our security staff members are working on hunting the pokémon down right now as we speak!"

"Well, hurry up!" another person exclaims. "I could have sworn I heard a scream outside my room before I came down here!"

"Excuse me," I say loudly and make my way over to the healing station counter. I ignore all of the protesting people behind me and say to Nurse Joy, "I just captured a mightyena outside my room upstairs that wasn't like any normal mightyena. It was about the same height as my blaziken and it had pupil-less eyes. It looked like it was getting ready to attack a girl before my blaziken knocked it out and I captured it."

"That's an excellent story, little girl, but could you move it? No one has time for your ridiculous imagination," the woman at the front of the line snaps, interrupting me.

Blaziken growls from beside me as I turn to the rude woman. I cock an eyebrow at her, thoroughly annoyed by her rudeness.

"Care for me to let the mightyena out to prove it?" I challenge.

When she doesn't utter another word, I turn back to Nurse Joy.

"Do you think it could possibly be the pokémon that you guys are looking for?" I ask.

Nurse Joy's mouth tightens into a thin line. "I wouldn't know unless I see it. Could you possibly let it out now?"

"I don't think it would be wise to do so right here with all of these people."

"We have pokémon here that would be capable of preventing the mightyena from causing any damage."

I agree to the task after hearing this piece of reassurance. Nurse Joy nods at me and heads out from behind the counter. She ushers everyone into making room for me before giving me the okay to release the mightyena. I take a deep breath to calm myself before hesitantly throwing forth the PokéBall.

A collective gasp fills the air along with a few startled yelps. Many jaws drop to the floor as everyone marvels over the incredible size of the mightyena that stands tall before us. Its pupil-less eyes flicker around, glaring at everyone who surrounds it. It isn't unconscious like I had hoped it would be, but luckily the paralysis that it attained from Blaziken's Thunderpunch still renders it unable to move.

Regardless, it still makes many people wary, including myself. I even see a few people shrinking away.

"Return that thing! Now!" the woman from the front of the line demands.

Despite my aversion towards her, I instantly recall Mightyena back into its PokéBall. Nurse Joy comes up to me afterward, wearing a worried expression as she asks for the PokéBall. She explains that she needs to have it taken to the Pokémon Center's lab to have it analyzed, so I willingly hand it over.

"Can we get our pokémon back now? What if there are more pokémon like that mightyena lurking around this building? How can we go unprotected?" someone cries.

Many others join in with this exclamation. Next thing I know, everyone is scrambling back over to the healing station, demanding for their PokéBalls with intensified desperation. Blaziken and I step out of the way for everyone, opting to stand off to the side. They all crowd around the counter, eager to get their PokéBalls back as soon as possible. The poor distressed Nurse Joy hurries back behind the counter and ducks into the back room to help out her fellow relatives.

I hear my name above the incessant voices and glance over in the general direction that it came from. I spot Alec making his way toward me, his face marked by relief.

"Thank Arceus! You're alright," he says when he reaches me. "I didn't know where your room was, so I just waited for you to come down eventually."

"I'm fine," I assure with a small smile. "Are you okay?"

"I am. Just a little worried about this whole situation, though."

"How long do you think they're going to keep us in here?"

"Not long, I hope."

An uproar suddenly breaks out by the healing station before I can respond. Alec, Blaziken, and I look over to find a couple of Nurse Joys assembled behind the counter, each wearing an apologetic expression.

"What do you mean some of our PokéBalls are missing?" someone cries. "Where are they then?"

"We are very sorry but some of your PokéBalls are really not here!" one of the Nurse Joys insists. "We do not know what happened to them, but we assure you that we will be trying our very best to locate them. We ask that you all please return to your rooms now and we will have them returned to you as soon as possible!"

"How do you possibly expect for us to just return to our rooms without all of our pokémon?"

"How soon? I want mine now!"

"How could they have possibly just disappeared like that?"

"Give them back!"

Alec and I exchange anxious looks.

"Do you have all of your pokémon with you?" he asks me.

I tell him I do and then ask him the same question.

He nods at me, relief spreading throughout his face.

After much persuasion from the Nurse Joys, the people in the lobby reluctantly begin to make their ways towards the elevator. Blaziken and I follow with Alec walking beside me. He expresses that he has no intention of leaving me alone at a time like this. I don't refuse his company.

It takes the elevator three trips to get everyone up to their designated floors, but no one dares to venture to the stairs in fear of what may be lurking in the stairwell. Alec, Blaziken, and I are apart of the last group of people to enter the elevator. We get off at the second floor to go to my room so that I can check on Olivia.

We bump into Drew on our way.

"May!" he breathes in relief. "Thank Arceus you're safe! I was just about to look for you."

I look into his smoldering eyes, noting the fear in them with concern.

"What's wrong?" I ask him, forgetting that I'm supposed to be mad at him.

"I just knocked out this huge zangoose in the stairwell. I was just about to head down to the lobby to see what was going on but—"

"You mean there's more?" I exclaim, cutting him off.

Alec and I glance at each other, our eyes wide with fright.

Before Drew can ask me what I mean, Nurse Joy's voice comes onto the intercom.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please hurry into your rooms and lock your doors _immediately!_" she cries, hysteria oozing into every word. "This is an emergency! Please stay inside your rooms and don't come out bef—"

Her voice is cut off by her own agonizing scream. And then there is silence.

Goosebumps pebble my body as I freeze in absolute shock. The blood drains from my face as I glance at the two guys and pokémon standing beside me, searching for proof that they had just heard the same thing as I had. Their wide eyes and horrified expressions provide me with my answer.

Before any of us can utter a sound, the door to the stairwell at the end of the hall bursts open.

A large houndoom stands in the doorway, its tail swishing behind it as it glares at us with pupil-less eyes.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Hopefully you all enjoyed that chapter! Thank you for reading and please review—and I mean that. Reviews are really what keep me motivated to write more for you all and to update on time. So, if you would all please just leave a review on your way out? Thank you in advance. :)


	11. Increasing Numbers

Hey guys. I just wanted to apologize for the whole week delay for this chapter. School has just started for me, so now I'm balancing both school and a job. I'll be even more busy than usual, so I have to work extra hard to make time for Fanfiction. I will try my best to continue on with my weekend updates, but the chapters are going to get considerably shorter from here on. Again, I'm sorry. :\

Happy reading for this chapter and I hope you all will still review!

**Chipolata:** I don't blame you for thinking that he's bipolar lol. Thank you for reading and reviewing!

******Disclaimer:** I own nothing that is affiliated with Pokémon. Every pokémon in this chapter is capable of the moves that it uses as proven by the information provided on Serebii.

* * *

**Chapter 11**

* * *

A voice comes onto the intercom after Nurse Joy's and surprises everyone. It has obviously been altered so I can't decide if it belongs to someone I know or not.

"If any of you three plans on saving Nurse Joy then you'd better start making your way down to the lobby now," it says with an eerie chuckle. "She may not last very long."

My mouth falls agape just as the intercom switches off. I try to make eye contact with either Alec or Drew, but the houndoom bounds towards us before any of us can blink.

Blaziken leaps over our heads to intercept the pokémon just as Drew and Alec step in front of me, their PokéBalls enlarged and ready in their hands.

"Go, Samurott!" Alec calls as he throws his PokéBall forward.

Drew wordlessly follows suit by releasing his absol.

The two pokémon materialize in the hallway and bound forward to join Blaziken. She backflips away to avoid Houndoom's Iron Tail attack just as Samurott speeds ahead of her in the form of Aqua Jet. Unfortunately, Houndoom manages to leap out of the way in time.

"Samurott, Hydro Cannon!" Alec commands immediately.

Samurott swiftly skids to a stop and turns around to face Houndoom again. It rears its head back before launching forth its attack, which successfully hits its mark. Absol follows up with an Aerial Ace and Blaziken adds on to the assault with a Hyper Beam.

Houndoom lets out a loud roar of pain as both attacks hit, but it manages to recover quickly.

A door clicks from beside me as someone steps out from their room. I turn to see the woman from the front of the line in the lobby standing in the doorway with a jolteon. She lets out a shriek as her jolteon shrinks in fear against her leg.

Houndoom snarls and attempts to run towards them, but Blaziken tackles it before it can. The pokémon writhes beneath her as she slams a Sky Uppercut into its jaw.

"Stay in your room!" I yell at the woman.

Her eyes widen at the scene before her and she hastily slams the door shut.

Houndoom suddenly blasts a Hyper Beam in Blaziken's face, throwing her off of it and slamming her into the nearest wall. Samurott barely manages to fire its Water Pulse attack at the Houndoom in time to keep it from attacking Blaziken again.

"Blaziken, return!" I call, and quickly withdraw my pokémon into her PokéBall before she suffers more damage.

Suddenly, a screech sounds from behind the woman's door. A brief moment later, the door breaks down and Jolteon steps out, leaving its trainer lying unconscious on the fallen floor. My mouth falls open in horror at its new large size as it glares at me with its pupil-less eyes.

The voice from before comes back onto the intercom.

"Two against two is a much fairer match now, isn't it? About time we evened out the playing field," it chuckles.

Jolteon growls and charges toward me. Drew pulls me out of the way just as Absol throws himself into the electric-type.

"Are you okay?" he asks, his voice urgent with concern.

I can only nod at him.

He responds by gripping me tighter before calling out a command for Absol.

"Absol, Shadow Ball!" he exclaims.

Absol unleashes the attack as Drew commands and Jolteon counters with one of its own. Smoke erupts from where the two attacks collide and temporarily obstructs our view of Jolteon. Absol braces himself as Drew pulls me even closer into himself.

But then a vine wraps around my ankle and yanks me from Drew's hold. I let out a scream as I hit the floor with a painful slam and my body is yanked across the carpet.

"May!" both Drew and Alec cry out.

Jolteon takes a snap at me as I am pulled right through its legs. It tries to chase after me after it narrowly misses my head, but Absol takes it down before it can. The vine continues to pull me right past the two pokémon at a fierce speed. I look at the end of the hallway to find that I am being pulled by a horrifying victreebel, whose gaping mouth is wide open and ready.

"Woops, now where did that one come from?" the voice on the intercom chuckles.

I find myself wishing that I hadn't returned Blaziken to her PokéBall.

The distance between me and the victreebel is quickly drawing to a close. I splay my hands out and try to dig my nails into the carpet to try and stop myself, but it is of no use. The tips of my fingernails break off and stinging pain shoots down my arm instead.

But I don't give up. I keep clawing at the ground, hoping to at least slow myself down enough to reach for my PokéBall.

Then I notice the armoire against the wall that I am rapidly approaching. With a sudden surge of adrenaline, I throw myself as far as possible to the side and reach for a leg of the armoire. My hands grasp around it, successfully bringing me to a stop.

I feel a hard tug on my leg as Victreebel cries out in anger from the end of the hallway. I ignore its tugging and focus on trying to reach for my PokéBall. But when another tug from the grass-type nearly makes me lose my grip on the armoire leg, I can't help it—I actually _growl_ at the pokémon. The sound angrily slips from my mouth as I yank my knee up to my chin, trying to pry my ankle from the victreebel's grasp as I make one last fumble for my PokéBall.

Relief floods me when I finally close my hand around it.

"Blaziken, Flamethrower!" I call out as I throw my PokéBall into the air.

Blaziken appears in the hallway and immediately fires a Flamethrower at Victreebel. It lets out an ear-splitting shriek and its vine releases its grip around my ankle. The instant return of control in my leg shocks me so much that I have to stumble to my feet.

After I judge the damage that Blaziken's Flamethrower did to the victreebel, I throw a PokéBall at it. To my relief, it's a successful capture and I hesitantly go to retrieve the PokéBall.

"May!" Alec calls from behind me, and I turn to see him jogging down the hallway with his samurott close behind him.

I go to meet him halfway and note the lack of Jolteon and Houndoom in the hallway.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" he frantically inquires, gripping my forearms when we reach each other.

"I'm fine. How about you?" I insist. "What happened to the pokémon?"

"I caught the houndoom and Drew returned the jolteon to its PokéBall. He's helping its trainer back into her room now as we speak."

I nod at Alec as I turn my head slightly towards Blaziken.

"Blaziken, let's go help Drew," I tell her.

She nods and leads the way to the room that Drew is in. He is just exiting the room when we arrive at the doorway.

"May," he instantly breathes out in relief although his eyes are still smoldered with concern. "Thank Arceus you're alright."

"Same with you, right?" I ask as I appraise him, while resisting the urge to grip his arms like Alec did mine.

There is an instant softening of his features after I ask him the question, and I find my stomach fluttering. He nods to me and bores into my eyes with his, but his gaze is too intense so I glance over his shoulder into the room.

"Is _she_ alright?" I inquire, referring to the unconscious woman in the bed.

"Yeah, she's fine. She's just unconscious, that's all, but I'm keeping her jolteon just in case."

"Then let's get her door back on its hinges and go back down to the lobby," Alec inserts. "We still have to find Nurse Joy."

Neither Drew or I object to his sentiment.

With Blaziken's help, the three of us place the fallen door back on its hinges. We do our best to ensure that it is secure enough to hopefully keep predators from entering the room. After the task is complete, we hurry to the elevator in order to avoid having to use the stairs. Alec and Drew return their pokémon to make room in the elevator as we ride it back down to the lobby to find Nurse Joy.

Once the elevator doors open, we find that the lobby is completely barren. Not a single person or pokémon is in sight, but Drew and Alec send out their flygon and chandelure to scout the area. Blaziken stays close with us as we carefully step out toward the healing station.

All the blood drains from my face when I see a pool of blood on the ground behind the counter. But Nurse Joy is nowhere to be seen.

"Where is she?" I mutter as I turn around to scan the lobby. "Where the hell is she?"

The voice on the intercom suddenly returns, breathing out the same chilling chuckle.

"Disappointed?" it asks. "If you want to save Nurse Joy, make your way to the top of the building. She'll be waiting...just not for too long."

And then the intercom switches off.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I hope this chapter was eventful enough to make up for the shortage in length. I can't promise that the next chapter will be any longer, but I'll keep rattling my brain for suspenseful scenes to write for you guys to keep you all entertained. Once again, I am sorry for the delay, but I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter! Please leave a review! I will try my best to get the next chapter up on time this weekend. :)


	12. Burst of Electricity

Once again, I would like to apologize for the delay for this chapter. I'm trying to establish a schedule for myself so that I can leave at least an hour or two to work on chapters every day, but it's not going so well. But I am working on it and trying my best to continue up with my weekly weekend updates. Although I failed last weekend, I will try not to make it happen again. I'm sacrificing sleep to get this up without any further delay as we speak... At least this chapter's lengthy though, eh?

Also, I want to thank everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter despite its delay. Hopefully you will all do the same for this chapter and every chapter after it. Thank you very much and happy reading. :)

**FicReader:** It's alright! You made up for it. :D Thank you for reading and reviewing!

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing that is affiliated with Pokémon. Every pokémon in this chapter is capable of the moves that it uses as proven by the information provided on Serebii.

* * *

**Chapter 12**

* * *

Alec leans forward and grips the edge of the healing station counter. Drew shuts his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. I clench and unclench my fists at my sides.

"What is this person playing at?" I wonder aloud.

"D'you think we ought to go find her now?" Alec asks, while turning around to face me.

Drew opens his eyes and regards Alec with an odd look.

"And what if this is a trap?" he challenges.

Alec flashes him a glance.

"But what if it's not?" he shoots back. "Do you want to risk Nurse Joy's life?"

"Do you want to risk ours?"

The exchange between the two guys sparks a flare of anger inside of me. Their newfound sense of rivalry between each other couldn't be more inappropriate at a time like this. I don't want to hear nor do I want to watch any of it.

"You guys do know that with the time that the two of you are using for speculation, we could be trying to find Nurse Joy," I snap, agitated.

Blaziken grunts her approval of my statement.

Both guys look over at me and their expressions change immediately. Alec doesn't try to hide the fact that he looks rather guilty, but Drew quickly tries to mask the surprise that appeared on his face.

"You're right," Alec mutters. "Let's wait for the pokémon to come back so that we can get going."

Drew and I can only nod in this situation. Our eyes meet briefly, but we both look away at the same time. The wait for the pokémon to return passes by in an awkward silence.

Unfortunately, the first pokémon that appears isn't a welcomed one. Alec and I are made painfully aware of its presence when it breaks through the doors behind the healing station with a force that knocks us onto the ground.

My elbows crack beneath me as all of my weight is placed on them to break my fall. Resisting the urge to hiss in pain, I look up to check on Drew only to see him barely jump out of the way in time before an enormous scyther slashes the ground beside his feet.

I find myself suddenly overwhelmed by an urgency to protect him.

"Blaziken, quick! Flamethrower!" I call out as I hurriedly push myself up on my hands and knees.

The scyther turns to glare at me with its pupil-less black eyes and lets out a menacing hiss. It effortlessly dodges Blaziken's Flamethrower before it lunges forward at Alec and me. We rush out of the way just as it slices the area that was between us, making a clean cut right through the counter.

Fear instantly envelops me and sends my pulse racing. Luckily, Flygon flies back from the direction of the food court and Chandelure wafts up through the floor.

"How in the hell did its scythes get that sharp?" Alec spits out.

"That thing has to be at least eight feet tall," I note as I grimly assess the pokémon. "Maybe it attributes to size."

This elicits a growl from Alec.

"Chandelure, Flame Burst!" he commands, which prompts the scyther to turn around.

Flames spurt out from the large fires at the tips of Chandelure's arms. As the scyther is too busy dodging the flames from Chandelure, Flygon slams into it with an Aerial Ace and throws it into the nearest wall.

But the attack practically did little to no damage to Scyther. The bug-type roars and easily pushes itself out of the wall, leaving behind a large indent.

"Blaziken, try an Overheat!" I command.

Blaziken lets loose a blinding sphere of fire, which successfully hits its target. The flames engulf Scyther, who shrieks in pain.

"We need to start heading to the elevator now," Drew says, and begins to step in the direction. "Come on."

Alec and I follow after him with our pokémon.

My eyes never leave the large fire that contains the scyther. I almost reach into my pocket to grab a spare PokéBall, but next thing I know, the pokémon rips through the flames.

Dread settles in my stomach. An attack like that would have rendered any scyther unconscious. This one's massive size seems to have greatly enhanced its defense.

Now it glares at us with a glint so frightening that it makes me want to bolt. I end up having to when it charges towards us.

Alec lets out a loud curse as he and Drew race with me to the elevator.

"Chandelure, Fire Spin!" he calls.

Chandelure shoots out a purple spiral of fire, but Scyther dodges it. Then its wings begin to glow and it lifts off of the ground, approaching us now at a quicker speed. I recognize this to be a Wing Attack.

I can't seem to run fast enough.

Drew is the first one to make it to the elevator, and the first thing he does is punch the button beside the doors. When they don't open right away, he turns around to gauge the distance between the elevator and Scyther. His eyes widen slightly when he sees how close the scyther is from Alec and me.

"Everyone, get behind Flygon, quick!" he commands. When we do what he says, he calls out, "Tailwind!"

Flygon forces us even closer to the elevator as it whips up strong, turbulent winds with its tail. Blaziken and Chandelure contribute to the attack by adding in their Flamethrowers into the forming tornado. The three attacks merge to create a gigantic inferno that reaches out and swallows Scyther up.

As the pokémon screeches from within fire, Alec reaches into his pocket for a spare PokéBall and throws it into the flames. The screeching stops as the flames die away to reveal the PokéBall lying on the ground, wriggling for a moment until it stops to signify a successful capture.

I let out a breath of relief as Alec goes to retrieve the PokéBall and the elevator doors open. Once he returns, he and Drew return their pokémon into their balls in order to make room in the elevator. I keep Blaziken out just in case.

"Should we head to the roof?" I ask no one in particular, my thumb hovering over one of the buttons beside the doorway.

Drew nods.

"It's the best place to start," he insists.

I nod back and press the button. The doors close and I instantly feel the elevator lift beneath my feet. It takes us up to our destination on what appears to be a smooth ride until the lift suddenly shudders to the stop. I can hear gears creaking from the outside of the elevator, as if a great weight has been placed on top of it.

And then something pounds into the ceiling of the elevator, startling everyone including myself. The force of the hit rocks the whole elevator in such a way that it sends my stomach plummeting.

"Open the doors! We need to get out of here!" Alec exclaims.

I snap around and jam my thumb onto the appropriate button. As the pounding above the elevator grows louder and more forceful, my desperation intensifies. We need to get out of here as soon as possible but the doors _won't_ _open_.

"Come on, come on!" I chant through gritted teeth.

My heart drums in my chest as quickly as I am stabbing the elevator button.

After a frantic series of jabs, the doors finally open. The floor that we were let off on is odd, with only a single door at the end of the hallway, but none of us cares. We all rush out of the elevator just as something breaks through the top of it.

A low growl rumbles in Blaziken's chest as a huntail slowly slithers out of the other. Its horrendous length sends us and Blaziken walking backwards down the hallway.

It leers at us before spouting a Hydro Pump from its mouth.

The Hydro Pump rushes toward Blaziken. With one look at the size of the attack that is rushing towards her, I can already tell that she has no chance of avoiding it.

"Blaziken, return!" I exclaim, and thrust forward my PokéBall.

A jet of red light shoots out and envelops Blaziken, withdrawing her to the safety of the PokéBall just in time.

My eyes widen when I see the Hydro Pump rapidly continuing on its journey toward _me_ this time. Like a deerling caught in headlights, the sight petrifies me and renders me unable to move.

Thankfully, a force knocks me out of the pathway of the attack just in time. I find my back being suddenly pressed into a wall.

I look up to see the forest green eyes of Alec. His arms cage me in as he hovers over me protectively.

"Are you okay?" he asks as he slowly pushes away.

I can only nod before glancing over at Drew, who stares back with an expression caught between concern and incredulity.

However, he quickly looks away to release his absol.

"Shock Wave!" he commands.

Absol roars as he rears its head back, its fur coated with electricity.

But just before it can let the attack loose, I notice Huntail using an attack of its own. A wave of water suddenly surges from behind it, rushing towards us at a frightening speed.

If Absol lets go of that Shock Wave, we'll all be done for.

The widening of Alec's eyes indicates that he knows this, too.

Both of us kick off towards Drew and Absol.

"Absol, stop!" I cry out as I run toward them. "Water conducts electricity! Don't do it!"

Drew and Absol widen their eyes as they notice the rushing water that is chasing us down. Absol cuts off its attack just in time to be withdrawn into its PokéBall by Drew, who proceeds to run toward the door with Alec and me.

But the water makes it to the door before us, making it terribly more difficult to run. Then the water level continues to rise toward the ceiling until it completely submerges us.

My feet automatically start kicking to the surface, where I desperately try to fill my lungs with air. Drew and Alec rush by me along the waves, both of them apparently struggling as well. I try to call to them but another wave pushes me back underwater. It is there that I see where the huntail is.

It is rapidly swimming towards us in a dark blue blur.

Panicked, I kick to the surface again. I see Alec being carried along ahead of me, with Drew furthest away towards the end of the hallway. He seems to be trying to reach the ceiling for some unknown reason that confuses me.

That is until he manages to grab hold of one of the ceiling plates. He punches it out of its socket, creating an opening. He grips the edge for a moment before he pulls himself out of the water and climbs through the opening. He doesn't take the time to rest and immediately turns to extend his hand out to Alec. The blond clamps on just in time, and with Drew's help, hoists himself into the ceiling, too.

"May!" both of them call, while extending their hands out to me. "Hurry!"

The rapids continue to force me down the hallway, with the huntail closing the distance between us. My heart thuds painfully as fear reaches out and grips me, nearly robbing the breath from my lungs.

I reach up to the two guys in the ceiling when the time comes. With combined effort, they pull me out of the water and into the ceiling to join them. My feet barely manage to escape as the huntail clamps down, its jaw creating a loud snapping noise.

Drew immediately reaches for his PokéBall.

"Alright, Absol, now! Thunder!"

Absol appears in the dark ceiling and instantly prepares for its attack, this time without interruption. Using the scythe at the top of its head, it sends a burst of electricity crashing down into the water right below.

The hallway lights up in a bright yellow flare as a roar of pain can be heard from the huntail. Drew tosses a PokéBall into the water as it begins to drain.

When there is silence, the hallway is empty.

I don't notice how much I've been trembling until I puff out another breath of relief. I feel as drained as the hallway as I let myself fall back onto the ceiling.

"I'm going to head down and make sure that everything's okay," Drew says for everyone, and then turns to look directly at me. "Don't come down until I tell you to."

I can't even find my voice to make an objection.

Absol leaps down into the hallway first, an act that demonstrates its desire to protect its trainer. Drew follows right after a few seconds. Although the distance from the ceiling to the floor isn't too drastic, I still find myself leaning over the edge to make sure that he lands safely.

"Watch out, May. I'm going to get down there, too," Alec announces. "Do what Drew says and don't go down until you get the okay."

"Okay," I whisper, moving as much as I can out of the way.

He offers me a slight smile that lacks any feeling before leaping into the hallway, where he releases his zoroark to help Absol scout the area.

I watch as the pokémon and their trainers survey the hallway. I want nothing more than to join them, but at this moment I feel too frozen to move.

Eventually, Drew goes below the opening of the ceiling. He looks up at me, piercing right through me with his intense eyes.

"May, you can come down now. It's safe," Drew says to me, while spreading his arms out. "Don't worry about the distance. I'll catch you."

Somehow, his words return feeling to me. I don't doubt at all that he will catch me. I know that he will.

So I brave the jump and slide out of the ceiling.

I fall down onto Drew and he adjusts his arms to get a firm hold on me. His hands grip the back of my thighs as my ankles cross behind his back and my hands go around his neck. I'm sure that we are both highly aware of the position that we are currently in, but neither of us makes any move to disengage from it. We just stare into each other's eyes and for a moment, the world seems to fall away around us.

My pulse starts racing but I know now that it is for an entirely different reason than fear.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Leave a review? Pretty please? :) Be sure to check in next weekend to see if there will be a new chapter! I can't guarantee that there will be, but let's see, shall we?


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